Biogas-digestate as Nutrient Source for Biomass Production of Sida Hermaphrodita, Zea Mays L. and Medicago sativa L.

Abstract

A sustainable management of the residues from biogas plants has to be considered due its potential use as plant fertilizer and soil conditioner. Our objective was to evaluate the biogas-digestate as a nutrient source for biomass production of three different plants: sida (Sida hermaphrodita -Malvaceae), maize (Zea mays L. -Poaceae) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. -Fabaceae). The used biogas-digestate was obtained after the anaerobic digestion of maize silage, as the major feedstock, and minor amounts of chicken manure. The treatments were established in five replicates including biogas-digestate, NPK fertilizer and a control. Pots were filled with the fertilized soils (biogas-digestate and NPK treatments) and control soil, and seedlings were transplanted and grown for 30 days under greenhouse conditions. Analysis of the shoot and root dry mass and nutrients content (C, N and P) of Sida hermaphrodita, Zea mays L. and Medicago sativa L. revealed similar values for both biogas-digestate and the NPK fertilizer applications, which were greater than the control, showing a positive fertilizing effect of the biogas-digestate for biomass production of the respective plants.

Agronomic Values of Anaerobically Digested Cattle Manure and the Separated Solids for Barley Forage Production

“…Our results are consistent with those reported by others for digestates (Terhoeven-Urselmans et al, 2009;Garfí et al, 2011;Barbosa et al, 2014;Bachmann et al, 2014;Frøseth et al, 2014) and for CM and SS (Chiyoka et al, 2014). In addition, the higher forage yields in response to ADM than CM and SS application reflected greater available N and P concentrations in ADM (Table 3), in agreement with results reported by others (Tambone et al, 2010).…”

“…Higher biomass yields with digestate application than unamended soils has been reported for corn (Zea mays L.; Barbosa et al, 2014), spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.; TerhoevenUrselmans et al, 2009), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), and two forage crops (Garfí et al, 2011). Application of anaerobically digested materials increased soil NO 3 -N concentration by about 30 to 40% compared with raw cattle slurry ( Johansen et al, 2013).…”

Fertilizing Potential of Separated Biogas Digestates in Annual and Perennial Biomass Production Systems

“…Therefore, it is common practice to use biogas digestates as organic fertilizers (Alburquerque et al, 2012a), which at the same time saves costs for both mineral fertilizer and potential disposal of the digestates (up to 25 e t −1 , Rolink, 2013). The good fertilizing value of biogas digestates in comparison to mineral fertilizer has been confirmed in several studies (Formowitz and Fritz, 2010;Gunnarsson et al, 2010;Walsh et al, 2012;Barbosa et al, 2014). Also, the remaining carbon bound in the organic matter helps to maintain or even increase soil organic matter (Möller, 2015), which is particularly valuable in marginal soils .…”

Anaerobic Co-digestion of the Energy Crop Sida hermaphrodita and Microalgae Biomass for Enhanced Biogas Production

“…The C/N ratio in the feedstock for AD amounts to 20/1-30/1 (Parkin and Owen 1986). The C/N/P stoichiometry of terrestrial plants is determined by the balance of nutrient uptake for growth and can also be influenced by nutrient supply (Güsewell 2004;Peng et al 2011;Barbosa et al 2014). Thus, the availability of nutrients in soil contributes to the differences in C/N in Sida, which may influence subsequent biogas production from harvested biomass.…”

“…Development of a sustainable bioenergy market is now based on energy crops that can substitute fossil resources (Barbosa et al 2014). However, energy crop production on arable lands competes with global food and feed supply (Schwede et al 2013;Jankowski et al 2016).…”