ENERGY CROPS – OUTLOOK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE FOR HUMANITY AND THE PLANET EARTH

Abstract

The growing risk of irreversible depletion of fossil energy sources like petrol, natural gas and coal, and the emissions of gasses consequence from their combustion, is causing the necessity of the introduction of energy crops for the manufacture of energy products. These include annual or perennial plants, fast-growing tree types – hybrid willows, poplars and others, and water crops – red algae, giant kelp, seaweed etc. Most preferred in Europe and the US are Paulownia sp. (P. elongata и P. tomentosa), giant reed (Arundo donax), elephant grass (Miscanthus giganteus), weeping willow (Salix babylonica) and wicker (Salix viminalis). So far in Bulgaria are preferred herbaceous energy crops such as corn, canola, sorghum, etc., but also were introduced some kind of timber. The global development of the sector would help to address the environmental problems associated with the release of huge quantities of greenhouse gasses. In the processing and utilization of energy crops, the amount of waste products is reduced to near zero, thereby avoiding environmental pollution.