Germans research sorghum varieties for biogas production
Earlier we reported about British researchers who went on an expedition in Asia to collect different varieties of miscanthus, in order to analyse their potential for use as a bioenergy feedstock (previous post). Now German collegues are doing the same for sorghum, a genus of many different tropical grass species, often associated with semi-arid regions. Their aim: to study the plant as a dedicated energy crop for the production of biogas. (On the rising importance of large-scale biogas production in Europe, see here).
Researchers from the University of Applied Sciences in Bingen (South-West Germany), have collected and planted [*German] 160 different sorghum varieties from Africa and Asia in two test fields. Already in 2005, the agricultural extension services of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz did the same with two promising varieties and in Bingen, Emmelshausen and Herxheim near Landau, another 20 different sorghum species were grown in experimental plots.
The goal of this research is to study whether the drought tolerant crop can be made to adapt to the dry but relatively warm climate of South-West Germany. In the tropics, sorghums (mainly Sorghum bicolor) are grown for a variety of purposes: their grains are destined for human consumption, in some varieties the stalks yield large amounts of sugar (almost as much as sugarcane which does need far more water), and the residues are often burned by households as a source of energy for cooking. Some sorghums show a high total biomass productivity, which makes them an interesting energy crop: yields of up to 120 tons/hectare are not uncommon.
In Germany as well as in other parts of Europe, the production of biogas from dedicated energy crops has become routine. Most often, silage maize or purpose bred energy maize is used. But the search is on for crops that thrive in places where maize doesn't do well. Sorghums are candidates, as researchers from the North-Sea Bioenergy Partnership already found out:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: biogas :: natural gas :: biomass :: sorghum :: anaerobic digestion :: Germany ::
Rheinland-Pfalz's Agriculture Minister Hendrik Hering announced the state has invested €40,000 into the small sorghum project as part of an initiative to step up biogas production as a way to mitigate climate change. The research results should be available in 2009.
The different crops will be analysed for different qualities: their adaptability to the local climate, their biogas yield, the retention time they need in the anaerobic digester, their gas yield when they are used as a co-substrate with other feedstocks (such as manure) and their over-all yield potential under different growing circumstances. Likewise, their cold-tolerance will be studied as well as their role in rotations with other crops.
The state of Rheinland-Pfalz has hot and dry summers, when traditionally grown crops (like maize) require vast amounts of water (irrigation) to grow. If the tropical sorghum could step in during this season, land would become more productive and a large amount of water would be saved.
Images: grain sorghum grown in Sudan, a man pulls a cart of dried sorghum stalks to his home, where it will be used as an energy source. Courtesy: Südwest Rundfunk.
More information:
Südwest Rundfunk: "Tropen-Hirse als Energiequelle" - April 10, 2007.
Biopact: "North Sea Bioenergy partnership plants sorghum and sudangrass for biogas" - October 25, 2006.
Biopact: "France develops 'super maize' for biogas" - October 04, 2006.
Researchers from the University of Applied Sciences in Bingen (South-West Germany), have collected and planted [*German] 160 different sorghum varieties from Africa and Asia in two test fields. Already in 2005, the agricultural extension services of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz did the same with two promising varieties and in Bingen, Emmelshausen and Herxheim near Landau, another 20 different sorghum species were grown in experimental plots.
The goal of this research is to study whether the drought tolerant crop can be made to adapt to the dry but relatively warm climate of South-West Germany. In the tropics, sorghums (mainly Sorghum bicolor) are grown for a variety of purposes: their grains are destined for human consumption, in some varieties the stalks yield large amounts of sugar (almost as much as sugarcane which does need far more water), and the residues are often burned by households as a source of energy for cooking. Some sorghums show a high total biomass productivity, which makes them an interesting energy crop: yields of up to 120 tons/hectare are not uncommon.
In Germany as well as in other parts of Europe, the production of biogas from dedicated energy crops has become routine. Most often, silage maize or purpose bred energy maize is used. But the search is on for crops that thrive in places where maize doesn't do well. Sorghums are candidates, as researchers from the North-Sea Bioenergy Partnership already found out:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: biogas :: natural gas :: biomass :: sorghum :: anaerobic digestion :: Germany ::
Rheinland-Pfalz's Agriculture Minister Hendrik Hering announced the state has invested €40,000 into the small sorghum project as part of an initiative to step up biogas production as a way to mitigate climate change. The research results should be available in 2009.
The different crops will be analysed for different qualities: their adaptability to the local climate, their biogas yield, the retention time they need in the anaerobic digester, their gas yield when they are used as a co-substrate with other feedstocks (such as manure) and their over-all yield potential under different growing circumstances. Likewise, their cold-tolerance will be studied as well as their role in rotations with other crops.
The state of Rheinland-Pfalz has hot and dry summers, when traditionally grown crops (like maize) require vast amounts of water (irrigation) to grow. If the tropical sorghum could step in during this season, land would become more productive and a large amount of water would be saved.
Images: grain sorghum grown in Sudan, a man pulls a cart of dried sorghum stalks to his home, where it will be used as an energy source. Courtesy: Südwest Rundfunk.
More information:
Südwest Rundfunk: "Tropen-Hirse als Energiequelle" - April 10, 2007.
Biopact: "North Sea Bioenergy partnership plants sorghum and sudangrass for biogas" - October 25, 2006.
Biopact: "France develops 'super maize' for biogas" - October 04, 2006.
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