Industrial crop
An industrial plant is a crop which is grown for material use. It is therefore a renewable resource, but differs from other renewable resources that are used for energy ( energy crops).
Material use can be found for example oil, starch, sugar, fiber, dye, drug and protein plants.
Significant industrial plants in Germany are rapeseed, potatoes, cereals, maize, sugar beet and others. To around 2.4 % of the German arable land 2009 Industrial plants were grown.
Definition and delimitation
Crops for thousands of years already serve as a source of raw materials. The term industrial plant or factory plant was common in the 19th century and was at that time in Brockhaus encyclopedia ( 1894-1896 ) defined as follows: "Industrial plants, also factory plants, the plants that are widely used in industry. Since in most cases, large quantities of the plant are used, the I. are for the most part important crops. Among the most important I include the textile or spun fiber plants, the color of plants, food plants, spices, oils and fats producing plants and the plants from which rubber, gum -resins and balsams are obtained which Gerbepflanzen, the cork oak, fuller's teasel various iodliefernde algae, etc. Additionally, there are to lead those trees and shrubs, whose wood is used for construction, in carpentry in the manufacture of machines, etc., or as firewood. "
Today's definition of industrial plants, however, does not exclude industrially processed plant a food and plants used for energy ( firewood). A definition in the modern sense is: " For industrial plant ingredients (eg oils, fats, starch) or plant fibers to material recycling are supplied. Prerequisite is a use in the non -food sector. "
Input in language use have, inter alia, the term industrial potato potatoes for starch (starch potato), and the name Industrierübe for sugar beet. While from so-called quota beet sugar is produced for food purposes, industrial beet for non-food ranges are used: " sugar for the drug and pharmaceutical preparation ( human and veterinary medicine), for chemical and synthetic materials ( thermoplastics ), for lemons and amino acids ( food industry) and for fermentation products ( yeast production ) ".
Groups of plants and use
Many different plants are grown for the material use. The following table gives an overview of cultivated and used in Germany industrial plants.
Cultivation and use in Germany
In 2009, the German arable land cultivated on around 17 % (2 million hectares ) of renewable raw materials. Around 86 % of them served the cultivation of energy plants, 14% of the cultivation of industrial crops (ie around 2.4 % of Germany's arable land). Some 600,000 tons of starch and 240,000 tonnes of sugar to be industrially processed annually. Starch is used primarily in the paper industry ( paper thickness ), sugar especially in fermentation processes for the production of chemical products. In 2004, 45,000 tonnes of vegetable oil in the manufacture of lubricants and hydraulic oils, 110,000 tonnes were used in the oleochemical industry.
In 1997, the acreage had been lying for renewable raw materials still under 500,000 ha and 2003 about 800,000 ha. By 2007, a strong increase to over 2,000,000 ha took place, which stagnated in this area since.
Perspective
The importance of renewable resources ( renewable raw materials ) has increased greatly in recent years. However, especially the cultivation of energy plants increased, while the cultivation of industrial crops increased only slightly. The importance of the material use of renewable raw materials in the German chemical industry was in 1991 at 8.0 % and grew 8.9 % in 1998 to 11.2 % in 2005. Future, a continuing increase in significance is expected. Important factors are the efforts to reduce dependence on oil to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to conserve resources and to reduce dependence on imports. In biorefineries, for example to be implemented with chemical, biotechnical and other processes in material and other useful compounds in future biomass. With these and other approaches to be covered with renewable raw materials such as industrial plants in the U.S. by 2030 around 25 % of the raw material needs of the chemical industry.