Biomethane Yield from Different European Phragmites australis Genotypes, Compared with Other Herbaceous Wetland Species Grown at Different Fertilization Regimes

Abstract

Phragmites australis, Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia and Arundo donax are tall wetland graminoids with the potential to replace fossil fuels under sustainable cultivation conditions. We investigated the biomethane (CH4) production of these four species, including four different genotypes of P. australis, which represent the high intraspecific diversity of European reed. All plants were grown under three different macronutrient supplies (no nutrients added, an equivalent of 75 kg N ha−1 year−1 added and an equivalent of 500 kg N ha−1 year−1 added). Biomethane production was measured in four independent batch digestion tests. Across all experiments, fertilization regime had little effect on CH4 yield, which was on average 222 ± 31 L kg−1 volatile solids (VS). The lowest yield was produced by T. angustifolia (140 L kgVS−1) receiving no nutrients, while the highest yield was produced by A. donax (305 L kgVS−1) in the highest nutrient treatment. The intraspecific diversity of P. australis did not affect biomethane production. All P. australis genotypes produced on average 226 ± 19 L CH4 kgVS−1, which, although high, was still lower than conventional biogas species. The biomass production of P. australis was less increased by fertilization than that of Typha sp. and A. donax, but all species had similar biomass without fertilization.

Suitability of Wild Phragmites australis as Bio-Resource: Tissue Quality and Morphology of Populations from Three Continents

“…Stems and leaves of reeds had high water content, with equal or higher amounts of water than dry mass in most populations. Biomass harvested for anaerobic digestion requires drying as pre-treatment, which will cost more energy in moister tissues [47,48]. The shoots with the highest moisture content originated in Fanggan and Shandong, but overall, the water content did not appear to result from different ecosystem water availabilities.…”

“…Moreover, biomass produced earlier in the growing season is usually richer in N than late-season biomass, due to a re-allocation of N to the panicles [59,60]. Reed has previously been shown to be efficient feedstock for biomethane production, so choosing an adequate harvest time is crucial for obtaining optimal biomass properties for that specific purpose [3,10,47,57,61,62].…”

Ecological Basis of Ecosystem Services and Management of Wetlands Dominated by Common Reed (Phragmites australis): European Perspective

“…The interest in alternative energy sources has promoted the study of P. australis biomass yield [143][144][145][146]) and its applicability for combustion [147][148][149][150][151] or biomethane production [152]. An economic evaluation revealed that profitable use of harvested reed is confined to areas with relatively cheap labour and lacking long-distance energy supply or where reed is harvested as part of habitat management [153,154]).…”

Determine the optimal parameters for biogas production from common reed (Phragmites australis)

“…Energy crops have been widely used in AD plants as feedstocks for biogas production [11,12]. However, the competition of these crops with food and feed production and on agricultural lands is the crucial obstacle that affected their position as a signi cant supplier of biomass for AD [13,14]. This led to the development of the trend towards the use of alternative substrates such as municipal organic waste, industrial food waste, animal manure, agricultural waste, perennial grasses, and wetland plants [15][16][17][18].…”