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New biomass crop hybrids for bioeconomic expansion require yield projections to determine their potential for strategic land use planning in the face of global challenges. Our biomass growth simulation incorporates radiation interception and conversion efficiency. Models often use leaf area to predict interception which is demanding to determine accurately, so instead we use low-cost rapid light interception measurements using a simple laboratory-made line ceptometer and relate the dynamics of canopy closure to thermal time, and to measurements of biomass. We apply the model to project the European biomass potentials of new market-ready hybrids for 2020–2030. Field measurements are easier to collect, the calibration is seasonally dynamic and reduces influence of weather variation between field sites. The model obtained is conservative, being calibrated by crops of varying establishment and varying maturity on less productive (marginal) land. This results in conservative projections of miscanthus hybrids for 2020–2030 based on 10% land use conversion of the least (productive) grassland and arable for farm diversification, which show a European potential of 80.7–89.7 Mt year−1 biomass, with potential for 1.2–1.3 EJ year−1 energy and 36.3–40.3 Mt year−1 carbon capture, with seeded Miscanthus sacchariflorus × sinensis displaying highest yield potential. Simulated biomass projections must be viewed in light of the field measurements on less productive land with high soil water deficits. We are attempting to model the results from an ambitious and novel project combining new hybrids across Europe with agronomy which has not been perfected on less productive sites. Nevertheless, at the time of energy sourcing issues, seed-propagated miscanthus hybrids for the upscaled provision of bioenergy offer an alternative source of renewable energy. If European countries provide incentives for growers to invest, seeded hybrids can improve product availability and biomass yields over the current commercial miscanthus variety.

Die Wissenschaftsplattform Nachhaltigkeit 2030 (wpn2030) begleitet u. a. den Staatssekretärsausschuss für nachhaltige Entwicklung mit wissenschaftlichen Impulsen. Für diesen Anlass wie auch für weitere wissensbasierte Politikprozesse wurde das DNS-Lab als Format entwickelt und nun erstmals umgesetzt. In kurzer Zeit, einem halben Tag, werden bestehendes Wissen und Perspektiven zu einem bestimmten Thema aus einem breiten transdisziplinären Spektrum integriert, verdichtet und daraus entsprechende Impulse entwickelt. Das DNS-Lab „Politiken für nachhaltigen Konsum stärken“ fand am 4. März statt mit Vertreter*innen von sechs Bundesressorts, aus dem Parlamentarischen Beirat für nachhaltige Entwicklung (PBnE) und mit Expert*innen aus Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Den Teilnehmenden danken wir für ihre Beiträge. Der vorliegende Impuls speist sich aus den Lab-Ergebnissen sowie aus den Ergebnissen der wpn2030-Arbeitsgruppe „Nachhaltiger Konsum“ von 2019 und knüpft an vorliegende Empfehlungen aus der Wissenschaft und an weitere Aktivitäten der jüngeren Vergangenheit an, wie beispielsweise an die 2020 vorlegte externe Evaluierung des Nationalen Programms für nachhaltigen Konsum (NPNK).

Background / Issues: Food security high on the agenda of SGDs Agricultural land suitable for food crop cultivation limited and rather decreasing (land degradation through wind- and water erosion, sea level rise) Land use conflicts increasing Climate change-forced shifts in marginal agricultural land may also become crucial for achieving & maintaining food security Research question What are potential implications of marginal agricultural land shifts on food crop cultivation in Europe and what are options for mitigation? Results: - Increases in average air temperature and growth degree days across Europe lead to an increase of marginal agricultural land in the Mediterranean region and a decrease in northern regions - Changes in precipitation patterns may lead to increased probability of drought events in central Europe in spring and wetness conditions in autumn Discussion & Conclusions: - Food crop cultivation expected to become more challenging through climate change-forced marginal land shifts in many European regions, especially in the Mediterranean and central Europe - Winter-annual C3 crops more promising than summer annuals in central Europe in the future due to crucial shifts of precipitation patterns - C4 summer annual food crops like maize (Zea mays L.) becoming more interesting for northern regions, depending on the required vegetation period length and the type of use such as feed and biogas substrate - CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) crops which are partially edible such as prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica L. Mill.) expected to become more important for food crop cultivation in the Mediterranean Funding: This research received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 727698

Bioeconomy is “the knowledge-based production and utilization of biological resources to provide products, processes and services in all sectors of trade and industry within the framework of a sustainable economic system” (German Bioeconomy Council, 2015). A growing bioeconomy involves the replacement of fossil by biogenic resources (or biomass) derived from plants, animals or microorganisms. According to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the European member states, about double the amount of biomass used for energetic purposes in the year 2012 will be required by 2020. In addition, it is expected that more than 80 million tons of bioproducts will be produced in 2020 (Scarlat et al., 2015) and potentially about 150 million tons of fossil-based products and chemicals could be replaced by biobased products. This indicates a substantial demand for additional biomass to fulfill the EU’s bioeconomy goals. In the envisioned "ideal" bioeconomy, biomass production will take ecological, social and health aspects into consideration (Staffas et al., 2013). From the definitions and ambitions of the bioeconomy, it can be concluded that its growth will require a sufficient supply of sustainably produced biomass. According to (Scarlat et al., 2015), the potential risks arising from increased biomass production and supply in Europe are: The move towards a bioeconomy based on natural resources from land and sea would lead to a large increase in the demand for biomass undermining the sustainability of a biobased economy. Additional land use could lead to negative impacts from land-use change, such as biodiversity, soil carbon and soil fertility losses. The need to increase crop productivity could lead to increased use of fertilizers and pesticides with additional problems related to water and soil pollution. Additional pressure on water resources. Increasing competition for resources between food supply and non-food biomass. The MAGIC project has been established with the ambition of helping mitigate these risks.&nbsp

Miscanthus is a promising high-yielding and low-input perennial biomass crop. However, as miscanthus does not produce nectar, it provides less support for pollinators thanother perennial biomass crops, such as cup plant, Virginia mallow, or wild plant mixtures. This studydiscusses whether miscanthus could be intercropped with flower-rich biennial wild plants to furtherenhance its ecological functioning. In 2017, a demonstration plot was established in southwestGermany with two miscanthus intercropping regimes: woad (WAM) and yellow melilot (YAM).Both woad and melilot reached full bloom in 2018, the second year of cultivation. The flowering periodof woad started and ended earlier than that of melilot. Woad remained harvestable until spring 2019,whereas the aboveground melilot was destroyed by brown hare in autumn 2018. However, the shedseeds of melilot reemerged homogeneously in 2019. The miscanthus developed better in YAM thanWAM. This was most likely due to (i) stronger competition for water, nutrients, and light inWAM and(ii) nitrogen fixation advantage in melilot. These results indicate that the ecological performance ofmiscanthuscould be improved by intercropping with melilot. Thus, we propose to further investigatethe effect of intercropping on both the productivity and quality of miscanthus biomass. &nbsp

Guayule natural rubber may offer an interesting alternative to synthetic or Hevea natural rubbers. It presents unique properties beneficial in both heavy tire and non-allergenic medical furniture productions. In temperate regions, guayule is the sole potential source of natural rubber, as Hevea rubber can only be produced in tropical countries. Nowadays, commercial productions of guayule only exist in the USA but recent studies within the EU-PEARLS project framework have proven the technical and economic feasibility of guayule growth and rubber extraction in the European context. In order to further assess the overall feasibility of guayule rubber development in Europe, there is a need to also investigate the environmental impacts or benefits of such a natural rubber source compared to synthetic rubber. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of guayule natural rubber environmental impacts (1 kg of crude rubber) using Life Cycle Assessment, ILCD 2011 midpoint+ Simapro 8.2 and ecoinvent 3.2, Allocation, Recycled content. We included in the system analysis, all background processes from input production and transportation to the field up to the crude rubber extraction at the mill gate (Figure 1). Data for the field cultivation were taken from 3 field experiments carried out in France and Spain. We also compared the impacts of guayule natural rubber with those of a synthetic rubber provided in the Ecoinvent database, Synthetic rubber (RER) production, Allocation, Recycled content. The LCA results will be presented. (Texte intégral)

Land can be characterized marginal either under economic or biophysical limitations. In the EU project OPTIMISC (Optimizing Miscanthus Biomass Production) miscanthus production systems for biophysically marginal production conditions, such as water limitations, chilling temperatures, frost and salinity are developed by screening elite germplasm under controlled conditions and trialling it over a range of sites across central Europe, Ukraine, Russia and China, analysing the key traits that currently limit the potential of Miscanthus. To reduce the risks and costs of growing Miscanthus under marginal site conditions specific establishment methods and harvest and logistic systems were developed. By the application of life cycle assessments (LCA) and cost analyses miscanthus-based value chains with the highest income and area-related GHG saving for different site conditions were identified. Compared to other crops, miscanthus-based value chains can be economically feasible under marginal site conditions because miscanthus benefits from the perennial growth and the availability of stress-tolerant genotypes., Proceedings of the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 1-4 June 2015, Vienna, Austria, pp. 6-8

To spur energy security for sustainable rural development the “Integrated Renewable Energy Potential Assessment” (IREPA) was developed to explore the implementation potential of renewable resources considering the role of energy in diverse rural livelihoods. IREPA was applied in a case study in rural South Africa. Based on a participatory and holistic household and community assessment (i) currently un-utilized bioenergy resources, including animal manures, human faeces, organic wastes and grassland biomass, were assessed; (ii) social, environmental and techno­economic sustainability criteria (social cohesion, food and water security, gender aspects -protection of soil, water and air -operation and maintenance, investment costs) and available construction material were identified; and (iii) appropriate bioenergy technologies were selected with the Analytical Hierarchy Process. A simple plastic plug flow biodigester is considered the most appropriate bioenergy technology resulting in an implementation potential of 942 MWh per year on community level (or 3.5 kWh useable energy per household and day). The holistic and participatory bottom-up IREPA approach encourages the implementation of existing bioenergy potentials to spur access to clean and modern energy in rural areas of developing and emerging economies., Proceedings of the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 1-4 June 2015, Vienna, Austria, pp. 273-281

The perennial grass Miscanthus x giganteus is a high­yielding energy crop currently not used for biogas production. Generally miscanthus is harvested in late winter, but then the biomass has a low quality for biogas production. An early harvest of green biomass could increase the quality for biogas production, but the cutting tolerance of Miscanthus x giganteus is problematic. In this study the effect of cutting regime and fertilization on yield, quality and cutting tolerance was investigated. Four cutting regimes and two fertilizer levels were tested and the DMY, SMY and methane yield measured. The early and the late 1­cut regimes delivered the highest methane yields at 5783 and 5663 Nm3 (ha)­1, respectively. If Miscanthus x giganteus is cutting tolerant, this high yielding crop could be used to produce sustainable and inexpensive biogas. At the present point in time Miscanthus x giganteus seems only to be cutting tolerant in the late 1­cut regime, but data from the second year are required to confirm this hypothesis. In the second year the mechanisms of cutting tolerance will be investigated. If these mechanisms can be identified, this will contribute to the identification of cutting­tolerant miscanthus genotypes for biogas production., Proceedings of the 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 97-101

Miscanthus is a C4 perennial rhizomatous grass originating from Eastern Asia that has become a leading candidate crop for production of a lignocellulosic feedstock for a biobased economy in Europe. Research over the past 20 years has shown that a few key species and their interspecific hybrids have a high yield potential for bioenergy as well as other biomass-derived products requiring low inputs. At present the production of miscanthus is dominated by one genotype, Miscanthus x giganteus. The main objective of the OPTIMISC project is to broaden the genetic base for miscanthus. For this purpose promising germplasm from M. sacchariflorus, M. sinensis and M. x giganteus and cross-breeds thereof have been selected and will be tested for their tolerance and suitability to adverse soil and climatic conditions and for the suitability of the biomass to provide feedstock for energetic use or higher quality products. Major activities within OPTIMSC are the screening of traits for salinity, drought, cold and freezing stress in controlled environments and in field trials as well as testing the performance of novel genotypes on small to large scale. Options for using the biomass of different miscanthus genotypes for energetic and material uses are explored. Recommendations will be made with regard to cost reduction and environmental performance (LCA) of specific value chains. Decision support will be given for the selection and cultivation of suitable genotypes intended for different applications in different environments., Proceedings of the 20th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 June 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 651-654

Semi-natural grassland often has a high biodiversity and is therefore of great interest for nature conservation. As the produced biomass is often no longer usable for animal nutrition, mulching without removal of biomass or utilization of the biomass for energy production are new management alternatives. Therefore the effect of cutting and mulching on botanical composition and biomass production of an unfertilized meadow was tested in a long term field experiment and compared with an uncut control where shrubs and trees established. Botanical composition and biomass production did not differ significantly between cutting and mulching treatments. Additionally the suitability of the biomass for heat generation by combustion was tested. Difficulties with ash high­temperature behaviour and with emissions due to the high mineral content of grassland biomass have to be resolved., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 526-527

In large regions of Europe grassland is not any more needed for fodder production because its use is not economically viable. Because of the important role it plays in maintaining biodiversity and soil carbon stored grassland should be maintained. The energetic use of grassland could be an alternative to generate income from grassland. A long term field trial was established in 1994 by sowing a mixture of 23 different grassland species and was managed until 2007 under different nitrogen fertilizer levels regimes and cutting frequencies. Annual dry matter yields varied between 10.8 t ha-1 (2 cuts per year) and 9.1 t ha-1 (4 cuts per year). Energy- and CO2-balances were calculated to assess the energy efficieny and the global warming potential of different grassland management systems. Maximizing the overall biomass yields from grasslands does not always lead to maximized biogas yields, because these also depend on the quality (e.g. fibre content) of the harvested biomass. In conclusion, with regard to energetic aspects, a high cutting frequency is favorable for maximizing biogas yields., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 168-172

A small scale thermal bioenergy initiative scenario was created for a group of buildings nearby Augsburg, Germany. A systems approach was made to study and analyse the biomass demand, biomass supply, investment costs as well as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in order to satisfy the heat demand of the selected buildings with special regard to sustainability. An agricultural farmstead will produce the biomass and provide the additional consumers around with thermal energy. For the economic assessment, a cost estimate from a local engineering company was made. Furthermore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to gain an overview of GHG reduction and to proof the initiative’s sustainability. The fact that Miscanthus x giganteus is a very efficient and potential biomass­producing C4 warm grass species and has favourable combustion qualities, it was chosen as model crop. In conclusion, a small­scale chip boiler combined with a local heat distribution network supplied with regionally grown miscanthus can be a highly sustainable and eco­friendly way of satisfying heat demand in rural areas. Nevertheless, miscanthus establishment costs and boiler costs are rather high., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2266-2269

Energy grasses for use as solid fuels are harvested after winter, i.e. in early spring. But in regions with early snow, lodging is a major risk leading to quality and yield losses. Visual lodging assessment was conducted to evaluate genotypic effects and effects of nitrogen fertilization on lodging susceptibility of miscanthus and switchgrass after heavy snowfall. In a comparison of 15 miscanthus genotypes, strong differences in lodging behaviour were observed. All M. x sinensis genotypes and M. x sinensis hybrids showed high lodging damage. Greatest resistance to lodging was observed in the genotype M. x sacchariflorus (score of 5.33) and M. x giganteus (scores of 5.00 and 3.33). The level of nitrogen fertilizer only had an effect on the lodging susceptibility of switchgrass, where lodging increased with each increment in nitrogen level. No influence of nitrogen fertilization was observed on the lodging behaviour of M. x giganteus. It was concluded that the selection of lodging resistant genotypes of miscanthus and adapted nitrogen fertilization regimes in switchgrass can become important factors for securing biomass supply from energy grasses in colder regions where early snow fall frequently occurs., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 619-622