FELD 1/2025

Multiple use of

Multiple use of climate-resilient crops 16

Multiple use of climate-resilient crops Millet, flax, sunflower, and rye-vetch (mixed cultivation of rye and vetch) are some of the test crops in the MEFAP project. Klaus Gutser’s team is testing plants that can achieve high efficiency even in sandy and dry locations—depending on rain fluctuations—and can be successful in regional value chains while also contributing to climate and species protection. methane, which is then fed into natural gas pipelines or converted into electricity. The remains are spread on the fields as fertilizer. One part of the straw goes into cellulose production, another into the biogas plant, and the rest onto the fields—a highly efficient cycle. He is certain of the demand for domestically-sourced fibers for the production of paper and cardboard. Until now, the paper industry has met its steadily increasing demand with fresh fibers from imported wood. »We, on the other hand, offer fresh fibers without having to cut down forests,« says Dauser. The problem lies not with demand, but with raw materials. »For industrial processes, we need very homogeneous material in large quantities,« says Dauser, »mixed flower meadows as a raw material for cellulose are a nightmare.« Miscanthus and other tall-growing grasses, on the other hand, are well suited. Above all, however, the company relies on straw. The company is not planning huge plants, but decentralized factories. The raw material does not travel to the factory; instead, the factories are located where the raw materials are. In Bavaria, agriculture is too fragmented for this approach, as there is not enough straw per farm. Fibers365’s factories are worthwhile in areas with farms that can provide at least 5,000 to 10,000 tons of straw per year. »Then there are two or three suppliers who are ideally involved in the project as well«, says Dauser. In its overview report »BioRest,« the German Federal Environment Agency lists various studies on the availability of straw, depending on land use scenarios or livestock numbers. It cites potential between 5 and 20 million tons of fresh wheat, barley, and rye straw per year. This would represent 20 to 43 percent of the straw harvested in Germany. The German Biomass Research Center in Leipzig estimates 5 to 13 million tons of straw to be available annually for new applications beyond barn use and humus accumulation in the field. Dauser’s expectations are within this range: he estimates 10 million tons of available straw per year. »If one to two million tons of this could be put to use, that would be amazing.« However, resistance among the farmers is as strong as the long-standing tradition of plowing grain straw into the soil after harvest to form humus. »We’ve always done it this way,« is something he often hears in his search for new raw material suppliers, says Dauser. 17