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Advances & Trends in Biogas and Biorefineries

  • June 2017
  • Editor: Erik Meers; Evi Michels; Stefanie Scheidl; Bruno Dereminice
Authors:
Erik Meers at Ghent University
Erik Meers
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This book provides an overview of cutting-edge European research, both from academia and industry, on biogas as well as recovery of resources from biobased materials (wastes, residues,...)
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Special Issue - Advances & Trends in Biogas and Biorefineries - colour version
Data
July 2017
Erik Meers
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Evaluating the impact of soil conservation measures on soil organic carbon at the farm scale
Article
Full-text available
No-tillage (NT) is considered the least invasive conservation agriculture technique and has shown to be the effective in increasing soil C stocks, and reducing losses compared to others tillage systems. In Italy, the Veneto Region was the first to establish a subsidies scheme aimed at promoting the adoption of NT practices. This program encourages farmers to perform direct seeding, alternate autumn and winter crops and maintain soil cover throughout the year by leaving crop residues or sowing cover crops.
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Can Phosphate Salts Recovered from Manure Replace Conventional Phosphate Fertilizer?
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2017
Pig farming produces more manure than can reasonably be spread onto surrounding fields, particularly in regions with high livestock densities and limited land availability. Nutrient recycling offers an attractive solution for dealing with manure excesses and is one main objective of the European commission-funded project “BioEcoSIM”. Phosphate salts (“P-Salt”) were recovered from the separated liquid manure fraction. The solid fraction was dried and carbonized to biochar. This study compared the fertilizing performance of P-Salt and conventional phosphate fertilizer and determined whether additional biochar application further increased biomass yields. The fertilizers and biochar were tested in pot experiments with spring barley and faba beans using two nutrient-poor soils. The crops were fertilized with P-Salt at three levels and biochar in two concentrations. Biomass yield was determined after six weeks. Plant and soil samples were analysed for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents. The P-Salt had similar or even better effects than mineral fertilizer on growth in both crops and soils. Slow release of nutrients can prevent leaching, rendering P-Salt a particularly suitable fertilizer for light sandy soils. Biochar can enhance its fertilizing effect, but the underlying mechanisms need further investigation. These novel products are concluded to be promising candidates for efficient fertilization strategies.
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Integration of microalgal cultivation system for wastewater remediation and sustainable biomass production
Article
Full-text available
Untreated wastewaters have been a great concern and can cause major pollution problems for environment. Conventional approaches for treating wastewater involve tremendous capital cost, have major short comings and are not sustainable. Microalgae culture offers an interesting step for wastewater treatment. Microalgae serve the dual purpose of phycoremediation along with the production of potentially valuable biomass, which can be used for several purposes. The ability of microalgae to accumulate nitrogen, phosphorus, heavy metals and other toxic compounds can be integrated with wastewater treatment system to offer an elegant solution towards tertiary and quaternary treatment. The current review explores possible role of microalgal based wastewater treatment and explores the current progress, key challenges, limitations and future prospects with special emphasis on strategies involved in harvesting, boosting biomass and lipid yield.
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Pollution Control and Resource Recovery: Sewage Sludge
Book
  • Oct 2016
Pollution Control and Resource Recovery: Sewage Sludge discusses several traditional and new environmentally friendly technologies for sewage sludge treatment and disposal. In addition, the book covers a range of new initiatives that are underway to promote and accelerate the development of related sciences and techniques. The book's authors builds a framework for developing various sustainable technologies for sewage sludge treatment and disposal, including advanced dewatering through chemical conditioning, solidification/stabilization, reuse for the development of construction and building materials, anaerobic bioenergy recovery, sanitary landfill, and odor control. Explains environmentally friendly technologies for sewage sludge treatment and disposal, including advanced dewatering through chemical conditioning, solidification/stabilization, and anaerobic bioenergy recovery. Includes valuable guidelines for engineers to address sludge issues, such as sanitary landfill and odor control. Presents new developments and techniques that are on the horizon
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Evaluation of the energy and greenhouse gases impacts of grass harvested on riverbanks for feeding anaerobic digestion plants
Article
More sustainable scenarios in the bioenergy sector can be achieved when biomass exploitation is based on eco-efficient supply chains. Regarding this, grass as a by-product obtained from landscape management could provide a large quantity of biomass potentially utilizable in the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) supply chain.This study assessed the energy and greenhouse gases (GHG) impacts of grass obtained from the landscape management of riverbanks.A study area of a land reclamation authority was investigated by interpreting high resolution spatial data and determination of the biomass yield. In addition, an inventory was made of the grass production chain. An energy analysis was performed using the Cumulative Energy Demand method (CED), while the GHG balance of grass AD was calculated based on CO2 equivalents. Special attention was also given to the logistic approaches: two different supply systems were evaluated in order to determine the best supply chain for this feedstock.The results show that the biomass yield of riverbank grass amounts to 13 t f.m/ha (4.8 t d.m/ha) while the energy utilization of grass determines a saving on fossil energy of about 2.6-2.4 GJ/t f.m. (7.0-6.4 GJ/t d.m.) and on GHG equivalent emissions of about 86-67 kgCO2eq/t f.m. (233-181 kgCO2eq/t d.m.) depending on supply distance and logistic approach. In this regard, the Indirect Logistic Approach (ILA) achieves the best performance in terms of the reduction of fossil energy and GHG emissions.The results suggest positive prospects for the integration of grass from non-cultivated areas into the AD supply chain in order to mitigate the requirement for agricultural feedstock and obtain a positive return, in terms of energy and emissions saved, from landscape management operations.
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Processing recommendations for using low-solids digestate as nutrient solution for poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate production with Synechocystis salina
Article
  • Oct 2016
Within the last decades, environmental pollution with persistent plastics steadily increased; therefore the production of biodegradable materials like poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is essential. Currently, PHB is produced with heterotrophic bacteria from crops. This leads to competition with food and feed production, which can be avoided by using photoautotrophic cyanobacteria, as Synechocystis salina, synthesizing PHB from CO2 at nutrient limitation. This study aims to increase the economic efficiency of PHB production with cyanobacteria by using nutrients from anaerobic digestate. First, growth and PHB production of S. salina in digestate fractions (supernatant and permeate, with/without precipitating agents) and dilutions thereof and then the scale-up (photobioreactor, 200 L working volume) were evaluated. With precipitated and centrifuged digestate diluted 1/3 the highest biomass (1.55 g L⁻¹) and PHB concentrations (95.4 mg L⁻¹), being 78% of those in mineral media, were achieved. In the photobioreactor-experiments biomass (1.63 g L⁻¹) and PHB concentrations (88.7 mg L⁻¹), being 79% and 72% of those in mineral medium, were reached, but in a cultivation time 10 days longer than in mineral medium. The possibility to use digestate as sustainable and low cost nutrient solution for microalgae cultivation and photoautotrophic PHB production, instead of applying it on fields or processing it to achieve discharge limits, makes this application a highly valid option.
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