In a development that could affect the use of hemp as a biofuel, an article in GCB Bioenergy describes why bamboo may be an attractive resource in efforts to develop environmentally friendly renewable energy to replace fossil fuels.
Spoiler alert: It’s for the same reasons that cannabis hemp biofuels are attractive. However, cannabis offers the opportunity to reduce the crops carbon footprint merely by being grown in the sun or greenhouse rather than in large indoor grows. Hemp likewise faces political pressures and social stigmatization that hamper research into its use.
As with hemp, the study’s authors note that bamboo grows rapidly, absorbs carbon dioxide, and releases large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. They describe various processes—such as fermentation and pyrolysis—that can be performed to convert its raw material into bioethanol, biogas, and other bioenergy products.
Different varietals, different results
One difference is that a tool, with limitations, is currenly available for selecting the most appropriate bamboo species for different bioenergy production processes. No similar study has been done as to which hemp varietals are best as biofuel, which offers a rich field for research into growing hemp as an efficient biofuel crop.
“We conducted a review of energy conversion methods for bamboo biomass and found that bioethanol and biochar are the primary products obtained,” said first author Zhiwei Liang, of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science.
“Since the chemical composition of bamboo varies across different species, future research efforts should focus on gathering a more extensive collection of quantitative data for selecting species advantageous for minimizing biomass pre-treatment time and cost.”
