Energy Crops

In Finland energy crops have not yet been grown very widely, as they tend to be more costly sources of biomass than wood chips by the time they are transported to combustion facilities. But in some regions energy crops such as reed canary grass are increasingly grown in former peat cutting sites or in certain areas of open farmland where food production is no longer viable.


Within agricultural subsidy schemes fields that must be kept fallow during certain years can be used for non-food production, growing crops including cereals, vegetable oil producing plants, flax, mustard, soya bean, caraway, reed canary grass or fast-growing trees used as energy wood.

Examples of energy crops that can be used as such in solid form include straw, cereal grains and fast-growing grasses such as reed canary grass and even common reeds.

Other energy crops can be used to produce oils or alcohol for use as biofuels. Alcohol-based fuels such as bioethanol can be obtained from crops with high sugar and starch content, including sugar beet and barley. Biodiesel fuels can be made by processing vegetable oils extracted from crops such as rapeseed.