Assessment of the Energy Recovery Potential of Biomass Obtained from Non-Productive Lands in the Jiu Valley, Romania

Emilia C. Dunca, Mădălina F. Ioniță (), Lucia A. Varga, Sorin M. Radu, Ioana Ionel, Ioana A. Halmaciu, Irina A. Istrate, Diana M. Cocârță, Oana R. Botoran and Sabin I. Irimie
Additional contact information
Emilia C. Dunca: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petrosani, Romania
Mădălina F. Ioniță: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petrosani, Romania
Lucia A. Varga: Department of Environmental Engineering and Geology, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petrosani, Romania
Sorin M. Radu: Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Transport Engineering, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petrosani, Romania
Ioana Ionel: Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (MMUT), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara, 300222 Timisoara, Romania
Ioana A. Halmaciu: Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (MMUT), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Politehnica University of Timisoara, 300222 Timisoara, Romania
Irina A. Istrate: Department of Biotechnical Systems, Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Diana M. Cocârță: Department of Energy Production and Use, Faculty of Power Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Oana R. Botoran: National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenic and Isotopic Technologies—ICSI Ramnicu Valcea, 4th Uzinei Street, 240050 Ramnicu Valcea, Romania
Sabin I. Irimie: Department of Management and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Mining, University of Petrosani, 332006 Petrosani, Romania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: This work focuses on assessing the potential for energy recovery from biomass obtained from unproductive lands in the Jiu Valley. The main objective of the study is to identify a viable solution for the restoration of degraded land. The research aims to utilise these lands through energy crops; the biomass is then introduced into an anaerobic digestion plant to produce biogas. The novelty of this research consists of the physical transformation of these lands into a living laboratory, intended exclusively for the cultivation and study of biomass. Maize, soybean and sorghum plants were chosen for the study. The biomass was analysed in detail to determine the total solids (TS) and volatile solids (VS) content. In maize, VS ranged from 62.67% by mass to 76.58% by mass. In soybean, VS content was between 35.35% by mass and 36.60% by mass. In sorghum, VS ranged between 35.29% by mass and 38.86% by mass. This research showed that the largest amount of biogas resulted from fresh soybean biomass. Dry biomass, with its high lignin content, significantly reduced the digestion process’s efficiency. The study highlights that it is important to use fresh biomass after an appropriate mechanical pre-treatment to optimise biogas production.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; biomass; biogas; energy; unproductive land; living lab (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9380/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9380/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:21:p:9380-:d:1777129

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().