A calculator to help growers work out the greenhouse gas savings that can be made by growing wheat and oilseed rape for bioethanol and biodiesel production will be unveiled by the UK's Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) at this year’s Cereals show. A prototype version of the calculator was shown at last year’s event and attracted considerable interest. Since then a large amount of work has been conducted looking at the methodologies used in the calculations, taking into account variables such as soil type and field management, and adding information on biodiesel produced from oilseed rape.

Dr. Mairi Black, Industrial Uses Manager for HGCA, says: “Since last year both HGCA and Imperial College London, who devised the calculator, have been involved in the consultation process around the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). It is clear that we need tools to help growers to understand the way that their production methods will affect the delivery of greenhouse gas savings for crops for bioethanol and biodiesel.

“This calculator will be a working tool to help optimise these savings, and a means to provide assurance that UK-produced biofuels are making a valuable contribution to climate change.”

Work on the calculator has been led by Dr. Jeremy Woods of Imperial College London. The calculator  includes the option to look at biodiesel as well as bioethanol production  in a user-friendly format and his team have added a number of variables to the calculator to make it a more flexible tool for growers.

On-farm carbon audits were conducted in collaboration with CMi Ltd during the first half of 2007 and the results of these will be published in the autumn. These trials contribute to greater understanding of the factors which influence greenhouse gas emission from arable farming, and include different soil types, field management, varieties, and other regional variations.

In the autumn a full report of this work and a CD-Rom, which includes the calculator, will be made available to growers and they will also be able to download it from the HGCA website. Work on the calculator will continue to support the development of the biofuels industry.