Sustainable management of energy crops for integrated biofuels and green energy production in Greece

The present work deals with the assessment of the sustainability and integrated management of four energy crops and their residues, in Greece. Pilot agronomic experiments were performed by cultivating cotton, sunflower, soya and rapeseed for the estimation of their sustainability towards biofuels production and using their residues as feeding materials in a laboratory scale gasifier for the estimation of their bioenergy production potential. Fertilization needs, harvesting techniques, crop productivity and oil yields were recorded. The crops were cultivated under “farm” conditions in several demonstration fields. The study indicated that proper use and integrated management of the above energy crops and their residues, for the production of vegetable oil and bioenergy, respectively, could result in increase of the domestic raw material production for the biodiesel industry and enhance the cohesion of agriculture, energy and environmental policies in Greece.