Life Cycle Assessment of Triticale (× Triticosecale)

a New Zealand ‘Cradle to Farm Gate’ assessment of net energy yield, global
warming potential and eutrophication impacts of biomass crop production for
bioenergy

Summary

The production of biofuels from crop biomass is one means to address two key issues: finite fossil fuel supply and environmental impacts of fossil fuel use on climate change through global warming. This Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report is part of a New Zealand (NZ) biofuels research project at the University of Canterbury to advance biomass gasification and liquid fuel synthesis from the syngas. The aim is to characterise the most promising non-woody biomass species for use as gasification feedstock. The species reported here is triticale (× Triticosecale). It is a hybrid of rye and wheat bred for its grain but also having high biomass production in NZ, more than 22 tonnes dry mass per hectare (tDM/ha).