Rapeseed can be a source of biofuels. (Source: © Dusan Kostic / stock.adobe.com)

Mostly purpose-grown plants from which fuel can be produced or thermal energy can be obtained by burning their mass. These plants contain chemically bound energy from the sun in such a form that it can be easily harnessed by current technologies to produce either thermal energy or fuel, e.g. by combustion, esterification, distillation or pyrolysis. Typical energetic plants are corn, soy, rapeseed, knotweed and sugar cane.