Challenges and prospects of biogas from energy cane as supplement to bioethanol production

  • Innovative breeds of sugar cane yield up to 2.5 times as much organic matter as conventional breeds, resulting in a great potential for biogas production. The use of biogas production as a complementary solution to conventional and second-generation ethanol production in Brazil may increase the energy produced per hectare in the sugarcane sector. Herein, it was demonstrated that through ensiling, energy cane can be conserved for six months; the stored cane can then be fed into a continuous biogas process. This approach is necessary to achieve year-round biogas production at an industrial scale. Batch tests revealed specific biogas potentials between 400 and 600 LN/kgVS for both the ensiled and non-ensiled energy cane, and the specific biogas potential of a continuous biogas process fed with ensiled energy cane was in the same range. Peak biogas losses through ensiling of up to 27% after six months were observed. Finally, compared with second-generation ethanol production using energy cane, the results indicated that biogas production from energy cane may lead to higher energy yields per hectare, with an average energy yield of up to 162 MWh/ha. Finally, the Farm²CBG concept is introduced, showing an approach for decentralized biogas production.

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Author:Kevin HoffstadtORCiD, Gino D. Pohen, Max D. Dicke, Svea Paulsen, Simone KrafftORCiD, Joachim W. Zang, Warde A. da Fonseca-Zang, Athaydes Leite, Isabel KuperjansORCiD
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060821
ISSN:2073-4395
Parent Title (English):Agronomy
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2020
Date of the Publication (Server):2020/07/28
Volume:10
Issue:6
Link:https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060821
Zugriffsart:weltweit
Institutes:FH Aachen / Fachbereich Energietechnik
FH Aachen / Nowum-Energy
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
collections:Verlag / MDPI
Open Access / Gold
Licence (German): Creative Commons - Namensnennung