A practical field trial to assess the potential of Sida hermaphrodita as a versatile, perennial bioenergy crop for Central Europe

Two Novel Energy Crops: Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby and Silphium perfoliatum L.—State of Knowledge

“…However, Oleszek et al [15] indicated that double harvests could reduce the life span of the crop in the long term. In line with this theory, von Gehren et al [32] observed a reduction in the yield after the second year from double harvesting of S. hermaphrodita for biogas production. Another possibility with S. hermaphrodita, is dual harvesting, harvesting first at BBCH 55 in summer for biogas production and then harvest a second time at BBCH 98 in winter for combustion [17].…”

“…In Hungary, Kurucz et al [24] reported that densities of 10,000, 13,300, and 20,000 seedlings ha −1 gave similar yields, but the plantation was more uniform at the lowest density. In Austria, in a comparison of 13,300, 17,700, and 26,600 seedlings ha −1 , von Gehren et al [32] recommended applying the middle density due to similar yields and reduced costs. Šiaudinis et al [22,33], Stolarski et al [34] and Feledyn-Szewczyk et al [30] used a seedling density of 20,000 seedlings ha −1 , equivalent to a spacing of 1.0 m × 0.5 m, and Jablonowski et al [17] used a spacing of 0.75 m × 0.5 m (27,000 seedlings ha −1 ).…”

“…In the initial year, the dry matter yields obtained by harvesting biomass for combustion tend to be less than those obtained for biogas. In the first year, von Gehren et al [32] harvested 1.0-2.1 t DM ha −1 y −1 for combustion and 1.2-2.4 t DM ha −1 y −1 for a single cut for biogas production, and Facciotto et al [35] obtained 0.4-4.3 t DM ha −1 y −1 for combustion and 2.8-6.6 t DM ha −1 y −1 for biogas.…”

“…Siwek et al [52] obtained biogas yields of 9.2-15.1 t DM ha −1 y −1 and 4.8-8.5 t DM ha −1 y −1 on the second and third year respectively. Von Gehren et al [32] harvested respectively 7.1-9.7 t DM ha −1 y −1 and 13.2-14.3 t DM ha −1 y −1 on the second and third year of cultivation for combustion, and 6.6-9.5 t DM ha −1 y −1 (second year) and 7.3-8.6 t DM ha −1 y −1 (third year) for biogas production.…”

“…After harvest, the stems of S. hermaphrodita can be used to produce high quality pellets that meet the standards of solid biofuels [32] using common wood pellet production technology: chopping, milling followed by horizontal array granulator, and pressing [19,66]. The reported calorific values for S. hermaphrodita pellets range from 16.5 to 19.5 MJ kg −1 (Table 6).…”