Abstract
The global demand for plant biomass to provide bioenergy and heat is continuously increasing because of a growing interest among many industrialized and developing countries towards climate sound and renewable energy supply. The exacerbation of land-use conflicts proliferates social-ecological demands on future bioenergy cropping systems. Perennial herbaceous wild plant mixtures (WPMs) represent an approach to providing social-ecologically more sustainably produced biogas substrate that has gained increasing public and political interest only in recent years. The focus of this study lies on three perennial wild plant species (WPS) that usually dominate the biomass yield performance of WPM cultivation. These WPS were compared with established biogas crops in terms of their substrate-specific methane yield (SMY) and lignocellulosic composition. The plant samples were investigated in a small-scale mesophilic discontinuous biogas batch test for determining the SMY. All WPS were found to have significantly lower SMY (241.5–248.5 lN kgVS−1) than maize (337.5 lN kgVS−1). This was attributed to higher contents of lignin (9.7–12.8% of dry matter) as well as lower contents of hemicellulose (9.9–11.5% of dry matter) in the WPS. Only minor, non-significant differences to cup plant and Virginia mallow were observed. Thus, when planning WPS as a diversification measure in biogas cropping systems, their lower SMY should be considered.
Highlights
Supplying “clean” energy is a major component of the growing bioeconomy, the core goal of which is the complete replacement of fossil and nuclear resources with renewable energy and bioenergy [1]
Bioenergy cropping systems are assumed to have a promising future for two important reasons: 1. By growing bioenergy crops, unused land can be returned to agricultural production and, if necessary, even protected from further degradation by adhering to best management practices
The investigations in this study are based on above-ground biomass harvested from common tansy, brown knapweed, mugwort, cup plant, Virginia mallow, and maize (Zea mays L.) (Table 1)
Summary
Supplying “clean” energy is a major component of the growing bioeconomy, the core goal of which is the complete replacement of fossil and nuclear resources with renewable energy and bioenergy [1]. Apart from the end use sectors heat and transport, bioenergy makes up only a small share of 2.4% of total renewable energy production [1]. By growing bioenergy crops, unused land can be returned to agricultural production and, if necessary, even protected from further degradation by adhering to best management practices. 2. Bioenergy production enables a stable basis for the reliable provision of electricity and heat compared to wind and solar energy, which are subject to strong fluctuations
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