Energy Crop Plantation
What are Energy Crops?
Energy crops are a mixture of perennial or annual plants that are grown on marginal land or degraded land for the production of Biomass, which is a raw material for Power, Fuel and Chemicals.
Energy Crops:Grasses: switch grass, Arundo Donax, Miscanthus, Energy Cane, Elephant Grass
Fast growing Trees: Poplar, Willow, Eucalyptus, Kiri
Grains: Sweet Sorghum for grain, stalk for biomass
Tubular: Sweet Beet"Predictability of Feedstock supply determines controlled cost of production. Captive plantations and Just in Time harvesting result in optimized costs and increased profits"
Benefits of Dedicated Energy Crop plantation:
Ability to select right species of biomass plant for establishment of a plantation based on:
Plantation Management & Consulting Services
Energy crops are a mixture of perennial or annual plants that are grown on marginal land or degraded land for the production of Biomass, which is a raw material for Power, Fuel and Chemicals.
Energy Crops:Grasses: switch grass, Arundo Donax, Miscanthus, Energy Cane, Elephant Grass
Fast growing Trees: Poplar, Willow, Eucalyptus, Kiri
Grains: Sweet Sorghum for grain, stalk for biomass
Tubular: Sweet Beet"Predictability of Feedstock supply determines controlled cost of production. Captive plantations and Just in Time harvesting result in optimized costs and increased profits"
Benefits of Dedicated Energy Crop plantation:
- Reforestation project
- Use of marginal land or non-productive land
- Supplementing the available feedstock requirements of the Bio-fuel, Power & Chemical plant with the produced biomass on a long term sustainable basis.
- Maximizing the use of local resources
- GHG reductions will result from offsetting fossil energy (diesel, HFO, coal) & most perennial grass develop a major source of carbon sequestration through the development of intensive root system.
- Create employment and local economic growth
- Promote a level of biodiversity improve the watersheds, prevent soil erosion.
Ability to select right species of biomass plant for establishment of a plantation based on:
- Growth characteristics: height and weight of biomass/fruit produced as a function of time.
- Thermal characteristics (calorific value, ash content etc.)
- Chemical Analysis (Fixed Carbon, Sulphur)
- Suitability of the plant species to the environmental factors, coppicing (regenerative) characteristics
- Soil Type, Weather Pattern, Water Availability, labor cost
- Ability to replicate such biomass plantations easily and economically across all geographic locations. Not all species are amenable for easy replication and hence this aspect assumes great importance in the predictability criteria.
- Ability to produce millions of plant saplings in a commercially viable method.
- Ability to mechanize planting and harvesting using commercial framing equipment.
- Ability to have multiple arrays of end-products pipelines (sugars, power, chemicals, polymers)
Plantation Management & Consulting Services
- Plantation Establishment & Management
- Plantation Consulting
- Soil testing and audit
- Site Inspection / Assessment
- Nursery Establishment and Management
- Plantation Establishment and Management (including advanced pruning techniques)
- Financial Feasibility study (capital, running costs, cash flow projections)
- Advanced plantation pruning / harvesting techniques
- Enhancing production in presently poorly producing plantations
- Location and assessment of profitable biofuel investment projects
- Development of Crop based biofuel, biomass, and renewable chemical strategies
- GPS Directed Mechanical Planting, Harvesting & Pruning System
- Contract Farming & Buy-back agreement management.
- Long-Term Off take contracts & Government Grants
- International Financing & Investment