Abstract
In the rural zones of Latin American and Caribbean developing countries, the poorest households rely on traditional fuels such as firewood to meet their daily cooking needs. Many of those countries are located near the equator, where they have a tropical climate and grass is one of the most common biomass crops. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of harvesting age (30, 44, and 57 days) in the performance of anaerobic digestion of King Grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. King Grass) grown under tropical climate conditions. Three reduction methods of crop size were also compared. Results showed that 44-day harvesting age presented the greater specific methane yield (347.8 mLCH4 g−1VS) and area-specific methane yield (9773 m3CH4 ha−1 y−1). The machine chopped method (1–3 cm for stems and 1–10 cm for leaves) was the reduction method that maximized the methane production. From those results, the calculated area required for grass cultivation to provide the cooking energy to a typical family in the Colombian rural zones is 154 m2.
Highlights
About 3 billion people around the world use firewood or similar biomass to cook [1]
This study evaluates the effect of harvesting age in King Grass Pennisetum purpureum cv
The King Grass crop was grown at a farm located in Cali, Colombia (3◦ 210 50.800 N; 76◦ 330 45.800 W), with annual precipitation of 1173 mm and average temperature 23 ◦ C (17 ◦ C to 31 ◦ C) [15]
Summary
About 3 billion people around the world use firewood or similar biomass to cook [1]. Firewood has a low calorific value and can cause toxicity evens if kitchens are not well ventilated and combustion is not complete. This causes around 4.3 million deaths every year [1]. Is the main substitute of firewood in developing countries like Colombia, where is estimated that around 13 million people use it as cooking fuel and the annual consumption per housing unit is 132 kg, equivalent to approximately 6000 MJ [2]. Biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) of biomass in low-cost household digesters could substitute traditional biomass as firewood, which could reduce environmental impacts and improve safety and the standard of living of rural families [3]
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