DOI: https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/26.4.5036
Original scientific paper
Enhancing biogas production from perennial energy crops through bioaugmentation with perlite immobilised microbial consortia
2025, 26 (4) p. 1073-1089
Karlo ŠPELIĆ, Tomislav IVANKOVIĆ, Gabrijel BARČIĆ, Ivana TOMIĆ, Le ZHANG, Sabine ROLLAND du ROSCOAT, Vanja JURIŠIĆ
Abstract
With increasing concerns over energy security and environmental sustainability, the search for sustainable alternatives to conventional biogas feedstock has become increasingly important. As part of efforts to reduce dependence on maize silage, perennial energy crops such as Miscanthus x giganteus, Arundo donax, and Panicum virgatum are emerging as promising candidates to meet the increasing demand for biogas production. In this study, these plants were subjected to anaerobic digestion in bioaugmented bioreactors, and the biogas production potential (BPP) was monitored during a 26-day batch anaerobic digestion process. The results showed that bioaugmentation significantly increased the BPP in certain cases. The addition of M. giganteus to bioaugmented reactors increased BPP by 36%, whereas reactors with P. virgatum showed a 73% increase in BPP. Results indicate that bioaugmentation of reactors fed with alternative energy crops represents a viable and sustainable solution to enhance biogas production.
Keywords
bioaugmentation, biogas, perennial energy crops, biodegradation, anaerobic digestion, sustainable bioenergy
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