Importance of Maize as Food and Feed Crop

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

beet and sweet sorghum.

atmosphere's overheating [3, 4].

vated plants for energy production [5, 6].

**1. Introduction**

**Keywords:** maize, bioethanol, biodiesel, bioenergy

Maize as Energy Crop

*Elpiniki Skoufogianni, Alexandra Solomou,* 

*Georgios Charvalas and Nicholaos Danalatos*

Maize is the predominant raw material (together with sugar cane) for the production of bioethanol, the most common and widespread biofuel, and at the same time the predominant raw material for biogas production, with the highest yields in Europe. The advantage of maize biomass over other energy plants is the fact that biomass occurs after harvesting the seed and does not require the use of a different area for its development. The main drawback of the use of maize biomass is the negative effects of removing crop residues on fertility and the physical properties of the soil. Bioethanol's share of global biofuel production is over 94%, as many countries are replacing a portion of their fossil fuels with biofuels, according to international regulations. The choice of crops used as feedstock for the production of bioethanol is strongly associated with local climatic factors. About 60% of world bioethanol production is made with cane raw material in the Central and South American countries, with Brazil leading, while the remaining 40% from other crops with North America producing bioethanol almost exclusively from maize, and the EU uses as raw material raw starch (cereals and maize) as well as crops such as sugar

As a result of anthropogenic activities, billions of tons of carbon dioxide deriving mainly from the burning of minerals fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) as well as other gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, are annually released into the atmosphere, thus changing the composition of the gases that have remained stable for tens of thousands of years [1, 2]. This overturning is expected to change drastically the climate in the next decades. Its dioxide coal is responsible for 50% of the

Despite the environmental burden, the shifting to alternative forms of energy has begun from the oil crisis in the 1970s and the sudden rise in oil prices. This has led to the first boost for the development of renewable energy sources. In addition to food production, many governments supported the development of new culti-

However, the fall in oil prices in the 1990s tempered the markets, resulting in

Nevertheless in our day and age, global energy requirements have increased sharply due to the rapid increase in both the population and the technology. Therefore, alternative forms of energy are imperative. Research has shown that by

hindering green energy development and limiting them to small ones.
