Agricultural Resources for Biogas Production
- Boden und Landökosysteme
- Wasser - Atmosphäre - Umwelt
- Lebensraum und Landschaft
- Nachwachsende Rohstoffe und neue Technologien
- Forschungscluster "Pflanzen"
- Forschungscluster "Nachhaltigkeit"
Abstract
Agriculture as a producer of renewable energy can substantially contribute to a sustainable energy production and subsequently to a considerably CO2 reduction. To meet the future demands of a sustainable energy form without the competition to fodder and food production and environmental conservation efforts, the entire process, from cultivation to fermentation, of biogas production from agrarian raw materials need to be optimised. In this project crop production systems and plant breeding aspects of energy crop production and aspects of the fermentation from energy crop based mixtures are discussed. The experiment was conducted on several sites in Austria, where a number of varieties and types of the energy crops – maize, sorghum, sunflower, sugar beet, rye, wheat, triticale and barley – were grown and examined in respect of biomass and methane yields. For two grassland sites the optimum utilisation intensity and degree of wilting was tested. Additionally, concepts for site-adapted and ecological balanced crop rotation systems and fertilization ratios have been compiled for three Austrian regions. In a laboratory experiment as well as on a real biogas plant the most important process parameters of the fermentation process within the use of energy crops in combination with co-substrates of the bio-fuel, fodder- and food processing industries have been analysed. Results from site experiments show that the choice of variety or the variety-type of an energy crop and the climatic conditions of a location had a great effect on dry matter as well as on methane yields. The highest specific methane yields and subsequently methane yields per hectare have been obtained from maize, sorghum and sugar beet, whereas sunflower and cereals have demonstrated their potential as a pre- or intermediate crop. For grasslands the biomass yield and specific methane yield were affected by the utilisation intensity, degree of wilting and herbaceous composition of the cuttings, respectively. The investigation of site-adapted crop rotation systems with a balanced fertilization gave yearly methane yields per hectare of 1.300 to 1.750 in organic and 1.680 to 3.870 m3N CH4 ha-1 in conventional agricultural systems. Generally, higher yields have been achieved on farms without animal husbandry. For the examined raw material mixtures the optimum volume load and specific methane yield was determined in laboratory experiments. A better process stability and a higher biogas yield were due to the addition of co-substrates or enzymes. At the biogas plant in Bruck/Leitha an organic and a conventional mixture was monitored. Significant differences have been observed in volume load, hydraulic retention time, degree of degradation, average biogas and methane yield, as well as in the NH4-N content in the fermentation residues. This project has demonstrated the potentials to optimise the cultivation and fermentation of energy crops for biogas production. Data obtained from the research will serve as basis for further projects, where the methane-energy-value-model (MEVM) is improved and an ecological and economic evaluation of the biogas production process from agrarian raw materials is conducted.
www.diepresse.comProject staff
Barbara Amon
Priv.Doz.Dr. Barbara Amon
barbara.amon@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Alexander Bauer
Assoc. Prof. Priv.Doz.DI Dr.nat.techn. Alexander Bauer
alexander.bauer@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-93101, 93150
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Christian Leonhartsberger
Mag.rer.nat. Christian Leonhartsberger
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Peter Liebhard
Ao.Univ.-Prof.i.R. Dipl.-Ing.Dr. Peter Liebhard
peter.liebhard@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Karl Moder
Ao.Univ.-Prof.i.R. Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Karl Moder
karl.moder@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-85100
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Helmut Wagentristl
Assistenzprofessor Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Helmut Wagentristl
helmut.wagentristl@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-95501, 95511
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Roswitha Weißensteiner
Dipl.-Ing.Dr. Roswitha Weißensteiner
Tel: +43 1 47654-93232
Project Staff
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Jürgen Kurt Friedel
ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.Dr. Jürgen Kurt Friedel
Tel: +43 1 47654-93317
Sub Projectleader
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
Hans-Peter Kaul
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing.Dr.nat.techn. Hans-Peter Kaul
hans-peter.kaul@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-95111
Sub Projectleader
01.06.2006 - 31.03.2008
BOKU partners
External partners
Landwirtschaftliche Fachschule Tulln
DI Elisabeth Zwatz
partner
Federal Environment Agency
DI Werner Pölz
partner
Landeskammer für Land- und Forstwirtschaft in Steiermark
DI Dr.nat.techn. Karl Mayer
partner
Die Rübenbauern Vertretungs- und Übernahme Ges.m.b.H
none
partner
HOLMER Maschinenbau GmbH
none
partner
Chamber for Agriculter, Lower Austria
none
partner
AGRANA Beteiligungs-AG
none
partner
Saatbau Linz, OÖ Landes-Saatbaugenossenschaft reg. GenmbH
none
partner
Biogasanlage Bruck/Leitha GmbH & Co KG
DI Gerhard Danzinger
partner
AgroMais Saatzucht GmbH
none
coordinator
RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG
none
partner
Jenbacher Energy Systems
none
partner
Pioneer Seeds Ltd.
none
partner
KWS Saat AG
none
partner
OMV AG
DI Kurt Pollak
partner
EVN AG
none
partner
Wien Energie Gasnetz GmbH
none
partner
HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein
Univ.Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Erich M. Pötsch Univ.Doz. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Karl Buchgraber
partner
Funder
Jenbacher Energy Systems AG
Agromais Saatzucht GmbH
RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria AG
OMV AG
Agrana
BASF
Biogest environmental engineering Ltd.
KWS seeds inc.
Austria Research Promotion Agency - Research and Technology Promotion for Industry
Die Rübenbauern Vertretungs- und Übernahme Ges.m.b.H
Chamber for Agriculture, Lower Austria
HOLMER Maschinenbau GmbH
Saatbau Linz
EVN AG
Pioneer Seeds Ltd.