Page 29 - Ebook_CoverCrops2022_Final

and the squeeze will get far worse if the planned a lot more value out of each acre of land that
production capacity comes online in the next we have … not only in the U.S. but around the
few years. Then, there is the airline industry’s world.”
pledge to use at least 3 billion gallons of biofuel A group backed by the airlines and aircraft
by 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2050. manufacturers, the Commercial Aviation Alter-

Soybean oil production would have to double native Fuels Initiative, sees cover crops as a way
by 2024 just to meet the needs of the renewable to avoid the concerns about using food crops for
diesel production capacity that’s planned or fuel. “Because cover crops don’t interfere with
coming online, says economist Dan Basse, pres- traditional food crop production and provide
ident of AgResource Co. That would require additional production of crops on existing land,
farmers to increase soybean acreage by 40 mil- they are anticipated to have no effect on local
lion acres, an impossible target given that that food availability or prices and low or no induced
land is needed for corn and other crops. land-use change, an important factor in the life
cycle emissions calculation,” the group says.
But the feedstocks for biofuels will have to come
from somewhere, hence the interest in oilseed Because much of the land in one-cropping
cover crops. systems sits idle for part of the year, there’s lots
of land available for producers in certain regions
“With the societal push and drive towards the to plant oilseed cover crops. The warm climate
carbon-reducing technologies, I think that cre- of the Southeast makes it an ideal place to plant
ates a bright future for any technology, in this carinata, or Ethiopian mustard, in the winter-
case a biofuel, that has a significant reduction in time. CoverCress, an oilseed developed from
terms of carbon, which would apply for bio- pennycress, has a lot of potential in the southern
diesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation Midwest. And winter camelina, a hardy bras-
fuel,” said economist J. Alan Weber, a senior sica, is being eyed as an option for parts of the
adviser to the National Biodiesel Board who upper Midwest that have a short growing season
joined the CoverCress board in May. and cold winters.

A 2020 study by McKinsey and Co. and the “As with any crop, various cover crop solutions
World Economic Forum estimates that 10 billion are better suited to different locations based on
gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, known as soil health/biome, growing hours/days, tempera-
SAF, could be produced globally each year from ture profiles, precipitation, herbicide residues,
cover crops such as camelina, carinata and pen- biomass residue, etc.,” Steve Csonka, executive
nycress. By comparison, aviation used 95 billion director of the aviation fuel initiative, said in an
gallons of fuel worldwide in 2019. email to Agri-Pulse. He said there is breeding work
“If the end goal is to displace every drop of going on to develop pennycress and carinata that
aviation fuel in the world, and it is, then we’re yields oils more suitable for jet fuel.
gonna have to go well beyond existing feed- Puneet Dwivedi, a University of Georgia scien-
stocks, but that’s gonna be a generational effort,” tist who is developing carinata with $15 million
said Gene Gebolys, president of World Energy, in research funding from USDA, says there’s
a longtime biodiesel producer that is now pro- a big future market for biofuel feedstock for
ducing SAF from animal fats and restaurant airports in Southeast cities such as Atlanta and
grease at a refinery in California. Miami.

“Cover crops are going to be an important part “It is putting more money into the pockets of
of increasing yields on existing land. We can get farmers,” Dwivedi told Agri-Pulse. “In the winter

www.Agri-Pulse.com 29