The Role of Biofuels Coproducts in Feeding the World Sustainably.
One of the grand challenges facing our society today is finding solutions for feeding the world sustainably. The food-versus-fuel debate is a controversy embedded in this challenge, involving the trade-offs of using grains and oilseeds for biofuels production versus animal feed and human food. However, only 6% of total global grain produced is used to produce ethanol. Furthermore, biofuels coproducts contribute to sustainability of food production because only 1% to 2.5% of the overall energy efficiency is lost from converting crops into biofuels and animal feed, and approximately one-third of the corn used to produce ethanol is recovered as feed coproducts. Extensive research has been conducted over the past 15 years on biofuels coproducts to (a) optimize their use for improving caloric and nutritional efficiency in animal feeds, (b) identify benefits and limitations of use in various animal diets,
Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108; email: shurs001@umn.edu.
Gerald C
GC
Shurson
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D056804:Biofuels; D004032:Diet; D002523:Edible Grain; D006801:Humans; D011158:Population Growth; D011634:Public Health; D003313:Zea mays
D056804:Biofuels
animal nutrition; biofuels coproducts; distillers grains with solubles; environmental impacts; ethanol production; feed safety