Silage Maize and Sugar Beet for Biogas Production in Rotations and Continuous Cultivation: Dry Matter and Estimated Methane Yield

Agronomy

Wiebke Brauer-Siebrecht³  Anna Jacobs³  Olaf Christen²  Philipp Götze²  Heinz-Josef Koch³  Jan R࿌knagel²  Bernward Märländer³  Dan Mullan¹ 

[1]Institute of Sugar Beet Research, Holtenser Landstraße 77, 37079 Göttingen, GermanyDepartment of Agronomy and Organic Farming, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Betty-Heimann-Straße 5, 06120 Halle, Germany

[2]Institute of Sugar Beet Research, Holtenser Landstraße 77, 37079 Göttingen, Germany

关键词: biomass;    bioenergy;    winter wheat;    highly productive sites;    Central Europe;   

DOI  :  10.3390/agronomy6010002

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Since silage maize is the main crop grown for biogas production (biomass crop) in Germany; its increasing cultivation is critically discussed in terms of social and agronomical aspects. To investigate if sugar beet is suitable as an alternative biomass crop to silage maize; three-year field trials with both biomass crops in rotations with winter wheat (food crop) and continuous cultivation were conducted at three highly productive sites. Dry matter (DM) yield per hectare was measured via field trials whereas methane yield per hectare was estimated via a calculation. Higher annual DM yield was achieved by silage maize (19.5–27.4 t∙ha⁻¹∙a⁻¹) compared to sugar beet root (10.7–23.0 t∙ha⁻¹∙a⁻¹). Dry matter yield was found to be the main driver for the estimated methane yield. Thus; higher estimated methane yield was produced by silage maize (6458–9388 Nm³∙ha⁻¹) with overlaps to sugar beet root (3729–7964 Nm³∙ha⁻¹). We; therefore; classify sugar beet as a suitable alternative biomass crop to silage maize; especially when cultivated in crop rotations with winter wheat. Additionally; we found that the evaluation of entire crop rotations compared to single crops is a more precise approach since it includes rotational effects.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.