biopower - 21st century thinking

The oilseed rape plant

The oilseed rape plant (Brassica napus) is a member of the Brassica family of plants that include cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, swede and turnips. It is the highest yielding oil crop that can be grown in the temperate climate of the UK.

The oilseed rape seed itself generally yields 40-44% oil depending on the variety in question, of the waste 40-42% is crude protein making it an extremely good animal feedstock. Oilseed rape varieties can be split into two major subsections, spring types and winter types, spring types are planted in the spring, whilst winter types are planted in autumn and germinate in early spring, both subsections are harvested in late summer; in the UK most oilseed rape is of the winter subsection.

In order to produce large amounts of biodiesel it is obvious that a substantial increase in the availability of the primary source of the biodiesel, the oil of the oilseed rape plant, will also be required. There are two possible solutions to ensure greater amounts of oilseed rape oil, either to import large quantities from aboard or to cultivate more oilseed rape in the UK; the project has chosen to later solution due to the excessive cost of importing large amounts of oilseed rape.

Set-aside land

In order that the current national crop in the UK is affected as little as possible by biodiesel production, it is necessary to plant as much additional oilseed rape as is possible on land that is not currently used for crop production. This land can be found in the form of set-aside land; set-aside is land that has been designated as 'arable land that has been removed from production in accordance with supply control policy' under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). In the UK there are currently 611,000 Ha of set-aside land, of this area currently 75,000 Ha are used for the cultivation of oilseed rape, leaving a remaining total of 536,000 Ha of land available for the cultivation of oilseed rape. The 2003 review of CAP decided that farmers could grow energy crops on set-aside land permanently and would still receive subsidy payments for this land. The oilseed rape needed to produce the required 1 million tonnes of oilseed rape oil will be cultivated purely on set-aside land. It can therefore be estimated that a total of approximately 400,000 Ha will be required. This figure also assumes that the current crop on both non set-aside and set-aside land will be unaffected

Farmers contracts

Farmers will be introduced to the scheme primarily via their seed merchants and local authorities. Farmers will enter into a contract to supply oilseed rape to the crushing plants for the next years harvest. The contract will specify the variety of oilseed rape to be grown, the area that the farmer plans to cultivate and the price per tonne the farmer will be paid. The farmer will be paid a price that varies with the price of diesel in the UK, the minimum being the predicted market price for the contracted harvesting time (in October 2003 this was £170 per tonne). The farmer will also be paid a storage fee that will depend on the tonnage of seed he is storing for the year. As this scheme will protect the farmer from price falls and will provide a steady income throughout the year, it is envisaged that the scheme will be very successful.