What are energy crops?
Energy crops, also called “bioenergy crops”, are fast-growing crops that are grown for the specific purpose of producing energy (electricity or liquid fuels) from all or part of the resulting plant. The plants that have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for further development as energy crops are mostly perennials such as switchgrass, willow and poplar. They were selected for their advantageous environmental qualities such as erosion control, soil organic matter build-up and reduced fertilizer and pesticide requirements. There are many other perennial plant species which could be used for energy crops. In addition, some parts of traditional agricultural crops such as the stems or stalks of alfalfa, corn or sorghum may be used for energy production.
