Examples of Bioenergy Plants: Crops and Facilities Powering Renewable Energy

Examples of bioenergy plants (as crops) include corn, sugarcane, switchgrass, miscanthus, willow, poplar, rapeseed/canola, soybean, oil palm, jatropha, sorghum, sugar beet, cassava, hemp, camelina, and algae. In the industrial sense, bioenergy plants (as facilities) include biogas/anaerobic digestion plants, biomass CHP stations, ethanol refineries, biodiesel and renewable diesel units, pellet mills, and waste-to-energy sites that handle the biogenic fraction. These feedstocks and facilities convert biological material into electricity, heat, renewable gas, liquid biofuels, and sustainable aviation fuel, forming a major pillar of the evolving clean energy mix.

Energy Crops Grown for Bioenergy

Bioenergy begins with biomass. The plants below are cultivated or harvested for their sugars, starches, oils, or lignocellulose, which can be turned into fuels, heat, power, or renewable gas.

Sugar and starch crops for ethanol

These crops contain fermentable sugars or starches that are converted into ethanol for transport fuels and industrial uses.

• Sugarcane (widely in Brazil; mills often cogenerate power from bagasse)
• Sugar beet (prevalent in parts of Europe)
• Corn/maize (United States, China; dominant first‑generation ethanol feedstock)
• Sweet sorghum (dual-use for sugar and biomass)
• Cassava/tapioca (Southeast Asia, parts of Africa and Latin America)

These feedstocks support large, mature ethanol industries, with sugarcane offering strong energy yields and corn systems increasingly integrating efficiency and co-products.

Oilseed and oil-rich crops for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and SAF

Oils from seeds or fruit are processed into biodiesel (via transesterification) or renewable diesel/SAF (via hydrotreating and other pathways).

• Rapeseed/canola (Europe, Canada)
• Soybean (Americas; also valued for meal co-product)
• Oil palm (Southeast Asia; high yield but sensitive sustainability profile)
• Sunflower (Europe, Eurasia)
• Camelina (cool-season oilseed; emerging for low-input systems)
• Jatropha (tropical; mixed agronomic results to date)
• Microalgae (R&D to early commercial scale for high-lipid oils)

While mature oilseeds supply biodiesel today, rapid growth is in hydrotreating facilities that turn these oils into drop-in renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

Lignocellulosic perennial grasses and herbaceous crops

These high-biomass plants fuel cellulosic biofuels, pellets, and direct combustion or co-firing for heat and power.

• Switchgrass (North America; resilient perennial)
• Miscanthus x giganteus (Europe, U.S.; high yields on marginal land)
• Energy cane (fiber-rich sugarcane varieties)
• Napier/elephant grass (tropics/subtropics; very high biomass)
• Reed canary grass (cool climates)
• Giant reed/Arundo donax (productive but invasive in some regions)

Perennials can deliver strong greenhouse-gas performance and soil benefits when sited appropriately, though logistics and markets are still developing in many regions.

Short-rotation woody crops and forestry biomass

Fast-growing trees and forest species supply chips, pellets, and feedstock for advanced fuels and bio-based products.

• Willow (short-rotation coppice in temperate climates)
• Poplar (hybrids used in temperate zones)
• Eucalyptus (rapid growth in subtropics and tropics)
• Black locust and other coppicing hardwoods (site-specific)
• Pine and spruce species (managed forestry; residues and thinnings)

Woody biomass is central to pellet production and combined heat and power in Europe and parts of North America and Asia, with sustainability hinging on forest management practices.

Aquatic biomass

Water-grown biomass offers prospective high yields and does not compete directly with arable land.

• Microalgae (e.g., Nannochloropsis, Chlorella for lipids and specialty products)
• Macroalgae/seaweed (e.g., kelp, Ulva for biogas and bioproducts)
• Duckweed/Lemna (rapid growth; potential for biogas and protein co-products)

While still emerging at scale, aquatic biomass attracts interest for fuels, carbon capture, and co-products such as fertilizers and feed additives.

Bioenergy Facilities (“Plants”) That Convert Biomass Into Energy

Beyond the crops themselves, industrial “plants” process biomass into usable energy carriers. The facilities below represent the major conversion pathways active today.

• Anaerobic digestion/biogas plants (farm manure, food waste, wastewater sludge), often upgraded to biomethane/RNG for pipeline injection or transport fuel
• Biomass-fired power plants and combined heat and power (CHP) stations using wood chips, pellets, or agricultural residues
• Sugarcane mills with bagasse cogeneration (supplying mill power and grid exports)
• Corn ethanol refineries (first-generation fermentation with distillers grains co-products)
• Cellulosic ethanol plants (enzymatic hydrolysis or thermochemical routes using residues and energy crops)
• Biodiesel plants (transesterification of vegetable oils and fats)
• Renewable diesel and SAF hydrotreating units (HEFA/HVO), increasingly co-located at or integrated with petroleum refineries
• Alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) and Fischer–Tropsch plants for sustainable aviation fuel using ethanol, isobutanol, or biomass-derived syngas
• Gasification and pyrolysis plants producing syngas, bio-oil, and biochar (for fuels, chemicals, soil carbon)
• Wood pellet mills (densified biomass for power and heating markets)
• Waste-to-energy plants handling municipal solid waste (only the biogenic fraction counts as bioenergy)

The technology mix is diversifying rapidly, with strong momentum in biomethane, renewable diesel, and SAF, while cellulosic ethanol and thermochemical platforms scale more gradually.

Sustainability and Use Considerations

What makes a bioenergy plant truly “green” depends on the source, how it’s grown or collected, and how it’s converted and used.

• Lifecycle emissions: performance varies by feedstock, farming practices, and process efficiency
• Land use: placing energy crops on marginal or degraded land reduces competition with food
• Biodiversity and soil health: perennial systems and residue management can enhance ecosystem services
• Water use: irrigation needs and watershed impacts differ widely by crop and region
• Certification: schemes such as RSB, ISCC, and national LCFS/RFS frameworks guide sustainability
• Logistics and markets: proximity to plants and stable offtake drive viability and emissions

When carefully sited and certified, bioenergy can deliver substantial emissions cuts and rural economic benefits; poorly managed systems risk land-use change and ecological harm.

Summary

Bioenergy “plants” span two worlds: the biological crops that supply sugars, oils, and lignocellulose—like sugarcane, corn, rapeseed, soybean, switchgrass, miscanthus, willow, poplar, cassava, and algae—and the industrial facilities that convert them into electricity, heat, renewable gas, biodiesel, renewable diesel, ethanol, and sustainable aviation fuel. Together, they form a diverse, rapidly evolving sector whose climate value depends on thoughtful feedstock choices, robust conversion technologies, and rigorous sustainability practices.