Co-Digestion of Salix and Manure for Biogas: Importance of Clone Choice, Coppicing Frequency and Reactor Setup

Jonas A. Ohlsson, Ann-Christin Rönnberg-Wästljung, Nils-Erik Nordh and Anna Schnürer
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Jonas A. Ohlsson: Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7015, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Ann-Christin Rönnberg-Wästljung: Department of Plant Biology, Linnean Centre for Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7080, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Nils-Erik Nordh: Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7043, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Anna Schnürer: Department of Molecular Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7015, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: Animal manure represents a major source of renewable energy that can be converted into biogas using anaerobic digestion. In order to most efficiently utilize this resource, it can be co-digested with energy dense, high biomethanation potential feedstocks such as energy crops. However, such feedstocks typically require pretreatments which are not feasible for small-scale facilities. We investigated the use of single-stage and the sequential co-digestion of comminuted but otherwise non-pretreated Salix with animal manure, and further investigated the effects of coppicing frequency and clone choice on biomethanation potential and the area requirements for a typical Swedish farm-scale anaerobic digester using Salix and manure as feedstock. In comparison with conventional single-stage digestion, sequential digestion increased the volumetric and specific methane production by 57% to 577 NmL L −1 d −1 and 192 NmL (g volatile solids (VS)) −1 , respectively. Biomethanation potential was the highest for the two-year-old shoots, although gains in biomass productivity suggest that every-third-year coppicing may be a better strategy for supplying Salix feedstock for anaerobic digestion. The biomethane production performance of the sequential digestion of minimally pretreated Salix mirrors that of hydrothermally pretreated hardwoods and may provide an option where such pretreatments are not feasible.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; co-digestion; energy crops; manure; Salix (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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