The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Energy crop production costs in the EU

På svenska

Author

Summary, in English

The objective of this study was to calculate indicative ranges of production costs and assess the main sources of cost for a number of energy crops, both annual and perennial, on a regional level in Europe. The production costs were calculated in terms of the economic compensation required by the farmer in order to grow the crop, and therefore include not only the cost of cultivation, but also the costs of land and risk, which are often omitted in production cost calculations. The cost of land was calculated as the opportunity cost based on the production of cereals. Thus, higher food prices lead to higher land costs, which in turn lead to higher energy crop production costs. The analysis was performed for three cases with different assumptions concerning yields and production cost reductions resulting from scale (total cultivation area in the region), and learning effects. The calculated energy crop production costs were found to be consistently lowest for short-rotation coppice (SRC) crops and highest for annual straw crops. The production costs of SRC crops were calculated to be about 4–5 € GJ−1 under present conditions and 3–4 € GJ−1 under improved future conditions. The production costs for perennial grasses were calculated to be about 6–7 € GJ−1 and 5–6 € GJ−1 under present and improved future conditions, respectively. The production costs for annual straw crops were estimated to be 6–8 € GJ−1 under present conditions with small potential for cost reductions in the future.

Publishing year

2009

Language

English

Pages

1577-1586

Publication/Series

Biomass & Bioenergy

Volume

33

Issue

11

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Energy Systems

Status

Published

Research group

  • Environmental and Energy Systems Studies

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1873-2909