Abstract
Efficient conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to ethanol will benefit from a consistent composition of supplied biomass. While composition or quality for a given feedstock is known to vary, the influence of environment, rather than genotype, has rarely been separated for mature field-grown material. Replicated trials of a single sterile hybrid clone of Miscanthus × giganteus across Illinois provided a unique opportunity to test the influence of environmental, rather than genetic control over biomass composition, under US Midwest conditions. Given the interest in M. x giganteus cv. “Illinois” as a lignocellulosic feedstock, it is valuable to understand the variation in composition of this crop that would need to be dealt with by processors. This study examined the effect of seven sites spanning nearly 5° in latitude and contrasting soil types from sands to clays with land capability classes ranging from 1 to 4. Four levels of nitrogen fertilization (0, 67, 135, and 202 kg N ha−1) were applied on these mature, genetically identical, clonally propagated stands of M. × giganteus which were harvested both pre- and post-senescence. Despite the wide range of environmental differences, there was minimal variation in the composition across all locations, sampling times, and fertilization treatments. Composition varied from 39–45 % for cellulose, 19–24 % for hemicellulose, to 19–24 % for lignin. Nitrogen fertilization, while having a small effect, decreased the proportion of hemicellulose, acetyl groups, and ash and increased cellulose and lignin at statistically significant levels. Delaying harvest from October to December increased the proportion of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin and decreased the proportion of ash and extractables at statistically significant levels. The findings show that in the absence of genetic variation, composition varies minimally with environment or timing of harvest, which has important implications for costs of processing in a given location.
Highlights
Lignocellulosic biofuel production requires the efficient digestion of large quantities of feedstock
If the biomass is used for pyrolysis, the resulting Boil^ and optimum temperatures and flows in processing are affected by feedstock biochemical composition [13, 48, 18]
When pooled across locations, increasing the nitrogen fertilization rate decreased the proportion of acetyl, ash, hemicellulose, and theoretical ethanol conversion factor and increased lignin, biomass, and theoretical ethanol yield (Table 2)
Summary
Lignocellulosic biofuel production requires the efficient digestion of large quantities of feedstock. The C4 warm season perennial grasses Miscanthus×giganteus Greef and Deuter ex Hodkinson and Renvoize [22, 35] is a high-yielding, lowinput lignocellulosic bioenergy feedstock which has been grown for many years without fertilization and with limited weed control [11, 2, 3, 47]. The material of this species has become known in the USA as the Illinois clone [20] and has proved productive in the Midwest USA [2, 3, 27]. Consistency in the composition of the harvested biomass is a key factor in realizing economic cellulosic fuels, whether via biochemical or thermochemical routes [21, 31, 14]
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