Conflicts between Ecological Farming and Energy Use of Biomass from Agriculture

Due to the fluctuating nature of several renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and waves, new methodologies are needed for planning of sustainable energy supply systems. As Denmark has no hydro power, biomass plays an important role in this connection. Especially surplus straw and animal manure (for biogas) from agriculture. In the official Danish energy plans biomass is supposed to cover more than 20% of the Danish energy demand by year 2030. However, the use of biomass for energy purposes may conflict with the need to maintain soil quality of arable fields. Concerned ecological farmers claim that crop residues and animal manure should all be returned to the fields with as small a loss in carbon and nutrients content as possible. More empirical data are needed in order to evaluate the Danish potential for energy from biomass in view of the need for preserving soil quality. If a large part of Danish agriculture is transformed into ecological farming, some complicated ecological, technical and systems problems will have to be solved.