Biological production of methane from energy crops

Clausen, Edgar C.; Sitton, Oliver C.; Gaddy, J.L.

doi:10.1002/bit.260210710

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Although this quotation could i t very well in any newspaper from the past year, it is actually cited from the work of Clausen et al 5 h ese authors believed that the bioconversion of plant matter to methane gas was economically attractive at the fossil fuel prices of that time. However, multiple factors resulted in a sharp decrease in fossil fuel prices and increase in availability during the same years as some pionneering work on the anaerobic digestion of crops was being done.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, multiple factors resulted in a sharp decrease in fossil fuel prices and increase in availability during the same years as some pionneering work on the anaerobic digestion of crops was being done. [5][6][7] Nevertheless, the generation of biofuels from energy crops is being prompted in recent years in part for the same reasons as 30 years ago: an expected energy shortage, or at least signiicant fossil fuel prices increase. Today's incentive to produce biofuels is also derived from the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption, and the related increase in atmospheric CO 2 , in order to decrease its impact on global climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Biomethane production from starch and lignocellulosic crops: a comparative review

Frigon

Guiot

2010

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

214

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The methane produced from the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes and energy crops represents an elegant and economical means of generating renewable biofuel. Anaerobic digestion is a mature technology and is already used for the conversion of the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes and excess primary and secondary sludge from waste‐water treatment plants. High methane yield up to 0.45 m3 STP CH4/kg volatile solids (VS) or 12 390 m3 STP CH4/ ha can be achieved with sugar and starch crops, although these cultures are competing with food and feed crops for high‐quality land. The cultivation of lignocellulosic crops on marginal and set‐aside lands is a more environmentally sound and sustainable option for renewable energy production. The methane yield obtained from these crops is lower, 0.17–0.39 m3 STP CH4/kg VS or 5400 m3 STP CH4/ha, as its conversion into methane is facing the same initial barrier as for the production of ethanol, for example, hydrolysis of the crops. Intensive research and development on efficient pre‐treatments is ongoing to optimize the net energy production, which is potentially greater than for liquid biofuels, since the whole substrate excepted lignin is convertible into methane. Copyright © 2010 Crown in the right of Canada

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomethane production from starch and lignocellulosic crops: a comparative review

Frigon

Guiot

2010

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

214

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“…Under conditions t>180 °C, acetyl groups are released from the hemicellulose matrix and suitable levels of cell wall disruption are achieved, also resulted in formation of furfural by secondary dehydration reactions of hemicellulosic pentoses that inhibit the activity of rumen microbes and cell-free enzymes (Brownell et al, 1986). The researchers reported using lower temperatures with an acid can achieve comparable cell wall disruption to steam treatment at high temperatures, and results lower amounts of toxic compounds (Clausen and Gaddy, 1983). Steam and pressure treatments alone or allied with chemical treatments are known to disrupt lignocellulosics in a way which allows improved utilization of cell wall polysaccharides by cell-free enzymes and rumen microbes (Grohmann et al, 1985).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poster presentations

2011

Advances in Animal Biosciences

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The key to maximising the nutritional value of lignocellulosic materials is in disrupting the plant cell walls to allow complete access to nutrients and not creating extra anti-nutritional factors (Castro et al., 1994). In particular, steam and pressure treatments to disrupt lignocellulosics in a way which allows improved utilisation of cell wall polysaccharides by rumen microbes (Castro and Machado, 1990). Rumen fungi produce a wide range of polysaccharide degrading enzymes and are as primary colonisers of fibrous plant materials that degrade lignin-containing plant cell walls. With the advancement of molecular enumeration methods, in particular 18S rDNA gene probing methods, researchers were able to monitor fungal species within the rumen (Stahl et al., 1998). Quantitative competitive PCR (QC-PCR) techniques play an important role in nucleic acid quantification because of their significant lower cost of equipment and consumables (Franz et al., 2001).The aim of this study was to use QC-PCR to determine the effect of sugarcane pith treated with low temperature steam plus 0.9% H 2 SO 4 on in vitro growth of rumen anaerobic fungi. Material and methods Rumen fungi were isolated from pre-incubated wheat straw in the rumen of fistulated sheep and then method of Joblin (1981) was used to grown under anaerobic conditions at 39ºC for 3 days. These isolates were used (1:9) as a source of fungi inoculum. Serum bottles (four replicate per sample) containing fungi culture medium, 1g of sugarcane pith as untreated (UTP) or treated with low temperature steam (at 135 ºC for 80 min) and 0.9 % H 2 SO 4 (STP) and 1ml antibiotic solution were used to culture the isolated fungi at 39ºC in an incubator. To preparing fungi pure culture, sub-culturing was done three times. Total genomic DNA was isolated from pure culture samples using Guanidine Thiocyanate-Silica Gel method. A universal PCR primer pair GAF (F): 5'-GAG GAA GTA AAA GTC GTT AAC AAG GTT TG-3' and GAF(R): 5'-GAAATT CAC AAA GGG TAG GAT GAT TT-3' was used to amplify a specific region of 18S rDNA from anaerobic rumen fungi. Standard control DNA was constructed to use in the QC-PCR and was shown to amplify under the same reaction condition and the same amplification efficiency as the target DNA. The PCR was performed in a final volume of 25µl sealed in a capillary tip, and thermocycling was carried out in a model 2000 (Biometra). The PCR amplification condition was as follows: denaturation at 94°C for 4min followed by 35 cycles of 94 °C for 30s; 56°C for 30s; and 72°C for 1min followed by a final extension at 72°C for 5min. The PCR products were separated by electrophoresis on agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide, and visualized by UV transillumination. The relative intensities of PCR products were used to compare fungal biomass under different samples. The signal intensity was quantified by Image J 1.29x and expressed in arbitrary units. The data was analysed using the GLM procedure of SAS for a completely randomized design.

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“…Concepts about the biological production of methane from energy crops date already from 25 years ago (Zaltman et al, 1974;Clausen et al, 1979). The current updates on two cases, Germany and Brazil, certainly demonstrate that agriculture is effectively capable to contribute considerably to the production of renewable energy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%