Bioenergy
The term Bioenergy refers to the energy held within the biomass material on our planet. This is energy that is held in the biomass as a form of chemical energy which originates from the Sun. The term can also specifically refer to biofuels which are also a form of energy available to be used.
Traditional crops such as oilseed rape and wheat are grown to be processed for their energy content. However there are other crops which maximise the yield of to turn over land to unusual grasses, with a high yield, or short-rotation willow-coppice, and some forestry products.
Some of the crops that are grown for bioenergy and biofuels include: Maize, rapeseed, sugar cane, palm oil and jatropha.
Maize: a worldwide production of 817 million tonnes in 2009 (maize)
Oilseed rape: a worldwide production of 46.4 million tonnes in 2005 (oilseed rape )
Sugar cane: a worldwide production of an estimated 1,683 million metric tons with 50% of the production being in Brazil and India (sugar cane)
Palm oil: global production of oils and fats in 2008 stood at 160 million tonnes of which palm oil and palm kernel oil were jointly the largest contributor, accounting for 48 million tonnes (palm oil)
Jatropha: data not available
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Palm oil - Wikipedia Palm oil
Sugar cane - Wikipedia Sugar cane
Oilseed rape - Wikipedia Oilseed rape
Maize - Wikipedia Maize
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