Application of treated wastewater and digested sewage sludge to obtain biomass from Cynara cardunculus L

Sewage sludge use in bioenergy production. A case study of its effects on soil properties under Cynara cardunculus L. cultivation

“…Several studies have addressed the use of organic materials as amendments for energy crops cultivation (Mahmoud et al, 2012;Mañas et al, 2013;Quaye & Volk, 2013;Lag-Brotons et al, 2014a), indicating a growing interest towards the production of bioenergy under integrated management. Inorganic fertilizers are substantially responsible for the major part of carbon emissions, as well as account for a great share of the economic and energy costs (Dufour et al, 2013).…”

“…In addition, the use of SSC as soil conditioner has been also reported to improve soil physical properties, both in non-salinized and salinized soils (García-Orenes et al, 2005;Tejada et al, 2006). As a result of the role of SSC as soil improver, the growth of a wide variety of crops has been enhanced (Casado-Vela et al, 2006;Larchevêque et al, 2006;De Andrés et al, 2007;Song & Ju Lee, 2010;De Lucia et al, 2013), among which cynara is included (Mañas et al, 2013;Lag-Brotons et al, 2014a). In fact, under the conditions its perennial life cycle, which can last longer than 10 years (Angelini et al, 2009), minimizes soil disturbation, as no tillage is applied during its cultivation, and favours the enhancement of SOM pool (Mauromicale et al, 2014).…”

“…Inorganic fertilization has been tested, mostly based on N-fertilization treatments (Grammelis et al, 2008), even though K-fertilization treatments (Solano et al, 2010) and N-P-K fertilization treatments (Ierna et al, 2012;Mauromicale et al, 2014) have been also described. Concerning organic fertilization, Mañas et al (2013) evaluated the effects of SS, while LagBrotons et al (2014a) tested the effects of SSC, being both studies limited to the first year of cynara cultivation. Additionally, Lag-Brotons et al (2014b) reported the effects of cynara's productivity in a three-year trial.…”

“…Consequently, the preferred end use of SS in the EU is found in the agricultural sector, applying to the lands more than 30% of the total production (>10·10 6 t on dry basis) (Mahmoud et al, 2012). Regarding energy crops trials, it has been successfully applied as organic fertilizer, enhancing the quantity and the quality of the biomass produced (Mahmoud et al, 2012;Mañas et al, 2013), thus appearing as an interesting organic fertilizer to complement or even replace the inorganic fertilization usually applied to energy crops (Quaye & Volk, 2013). However, there are some drawbacks to take into consideration on SS land application, as the presence of heavy metals (Smith, 2009) and toxic elements for the plant (Noble & Roberts, 2004).…”

Biomass briquette manufacturing system model for environment

“…Growing draught resistant varieties like Pongamia, Juliflora and Jatropha could yield tons of biomass and biodiesel. In Spain waste from water treatment plants was used to grow Cynara cardunculus L and found to produce equivalent biomass yield as if cultivated in commercial manner [14]. Each and every city in India releases substantial amount of sewage water and they help spreading diseases in the suburban areas and to grow unhealthy vegetables.…”