Balanço energético da cultura nabo forrageiro visando a produção de biodiesel

Abstract

Due to the increasing global concern about obtaining new renewable sources of fuel, it’s primordial to assess the feasibility of different production systems. In this context, a widely used tool is the energy balance, which consists of the relationship between energy and the costs invested in fuel production, and energy related to outputs. There are different crops considered as potential for the production of biodiesel in Brazil, among them, the oilseed radish crop (Raphanus sativus L.). Thus, the objective was to estimate the energy balance for the oilseed radish crop. Fossil energy expended in the production of 540 kg oilseed radish crop oil per hectare was 22127.43 MJ, obtained from grain yield of 1200 kg.ha-1 for oilseed radish crop (45% oil, 55% meal), resulting in energy balance values for biodiesel production of 1.61. The indices obtained indicate that it is feasible to produce biofuels from respective crop, but also demonstrate that investment in improved technologies may be necessary if this crop is to be considered competitive with other feedstocks.