Green Biorefineries: Modeling to Explore Optimized System Configuration, Economic Deployment Potential, and Associated Land Use

Green biomass from grasslands can be used as feedstock in biorefineries that produce a range of products. Adjustments made as part of crop rotation to increase areas under temporary grasslands can yield benefits such as carbon sequestration, increased soil productivity, reduced eutrophication, and reduced need for pesticides. A flexible modeling framework was developed to analyze the deployment options for Green Biorefineries (GBs) that use grass-clover to produce protein feed and bioenergy. The focus was on optimal deployment, considering system configuration and operation, as well as land use changes designed to increase grass-clover cultivation on cropland. A case study involving 17 counties in Sweden showed that deployment of GB systems could support biomethane and protein feed production corresponding to 5%–60% and 13%–154%, respectively, of biomethane and soybean feed imports to Sweden in Year 2020.