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Applied Sciences
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Combined Energetic and Material Utilization of Agriculture Residues
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Combined Energetic and Material Utilization of Agriculture Residues

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 5306

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Walter Stinner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Helmholtz Ctr Environm Research UFZ, Ctr Environm Biotechnol, Permoserstr 15, D-04318 Leipzig, Germany
Interests: ecologic agriculture; renewable energies; sustainable process; wastewater treatment; organic agriculture; biomass; biogas; greenhouse gases; anaerobic digestion
Dr. Jianbin Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, 100083 Beijing, China
Interests: biogas; anaerobic digestion; waste treatment; solid waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is an urgent need of change to a carbon-neutral global economy. Biomass is the hidden champion for this, being the renewable source in the energy sector which fits in all subsectors, such as electricity, heat, vehicle/traffic fuel, industry fuel, and household energy. Furthermore, for all these subsectors, there is state-of-the-art technology available for an urgent transition as well as ongoing research which allows an enhancement of efficiency, sustainability, resilience, comfort, and win-win situations for other sustainable development goals. An important aspect in the range of renewables is the storability and flexible cross-sectoral use of biomass, which allows its use as “smart bioenergy” in applications with difficulties for other renewables.

The use of agricultural residues does not affect the often-critical discussed complex areas of fuel–feed–fiber–food competition, of land use change (LUC) or indirect land use change (ILUC), which means the clearing of forest or plowing of grasslands to generate cropland, unsustainable intensification of pesticides, enhanced fertilizer application, etc.

This way, the use of agricultural residues can overcome concerns regarding bioenergy and bioeconomy. Agricultural residues belong to the most underused mass flows with the highest potential for future development, especially, when taking into account sustainability issues. However, even residual biomass resources are limited, and agricultural residues play an important role in maintaining soil fertility. With respect to this, circular strategies with optimal material and energetic use of biomass, with recirculation of nutrients and carbon sources for humus reproduction (e.g., digestate), as well as combined strategies, are part of future solutions.

In the subchapters “Potentials and Utilization Options of Agricultural Residues”, “Pretreatment of Agricultural Residue Utilization for Anaerobic Digestion”, “Generation of Energy, Fertilizer, and Industrial Raw Materials from Agricultural Residues”, “Processing of Agricultural Residues for Energy and Mineral Raw Materials”, “Using Agricultural Residues for Energy Generation and Carbon Sequestration”, “2nd Generation of Biofuels from Agricultural Residues”, and “Other Uses of Agricultural Residues”, the multiple options of using agricultural residues in accordance with sustainable development goals will be shown.

Prof. Dr. Walter Stinner
Dr. Jianbin Guo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioenergy
  • 2nd-generation biofuels
  • biogas
  • biomethane
  • 0 ILUC
  • biochemical conversion
  • thermochemical conversion
  • circular economy
  • smart bioenergy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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14 pages, 1321 KiB  
Article
Effect of Novel Aspergillus and Neurospora Species-Based Additive on Ensiling Parameters and Biomethane Potential of Sugar Beet Leaves
by Jerome Undiandeye, Daniela Gallegos, Jürgen Lenz, Michael Nelles and Walter Stinner
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2684; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12052684 - 04 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1750
Abstract
Research on additives that improve the quality of silages for an enhanced and sustainable biogas production are limited in the literature. Frequently used additives such as lactic acid bacteria enhance the quality of silages but have no significant effect on biogas yield. This [...] Read more.
Research on additives that improve the quality of silages for an enhanced and sustainable biogas production are limited in the literature. Frequently used additives such as lactic acid bacteria enhance the quality of silages but have no significant effect on biogas yield. This study investigated the effect of a new enzymatic additive on the quality of ensiling and BMP of sugar beet leaves. Sugar beet leaves were ensiled with and without the additive (Aspergillus- and Neurospora-based additive) in ratios of 50:1 (A50:1), 150:1 (B150:1), and 500:1 (C500:1) (gsubstrate/gadditive) for 370 days at ambient temperature. Results showed that silages with additive had lower yeast activity and increased biodegradability compared to silages without additive (control). The additive increased the BMP by 45.35%, 24.23%, and 21.69% in silages A50:1, B150:1, and C500:1 respectively, compared to silages without additive (control). Although the novel enzyme is in its early stage, the results indicate that it has a potential for practical application at an additive to substrate ratio (g/g) of 1:50. The use of sugar beet leaves and the novel enzyme for biogas production forms part of the circular economy since it involves the use of wastes for clean energy production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Combined Energetic and Material Utilization of Agriculture Residues)
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24 pages, 5202 KiB  
Article
Extraction and Characterization of Biogenic Silica Obtained from Selected Agro-Waste in Africa
by Clement Owusu Prempeh, Steffi Formann, Thomas Schliermann, Hossein Beidaghy Dizaji and Michael Nelles
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(21), 10363; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app112110363 - 04 Nov 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3128
Abstract
Increased amounts of available biomass residues from agricultural food production are present widely around the globe. These biomass residues can find essential applications as bioenergy feedstock and precursors to produce value-added materials. This study assessed the production of biogenic silica (SiO2) [...] Read more.
Increased amounts of available biomass residues from agricultural food production are present widely around the globe. These biomass residues can find essential applications as bioenergy feedstock and precursors to produce value-added materials. This study assessed the production of biogenic silica (SiO2) from different biomass residues in Africa, including cornhusk, corncob, yam peelings, cassava peelings and coconut husks. Two processes were performed to synthesize the biogenic silica. First, the biomass fuels were chemically pre-treated with 1 and 5% w/v citric acid solutions. In the second stage, combustion at 600 °C for 2 h in a muffle oven was applied. The characterization of the untreated biomasses was conducted using Inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The resulting ashes from the combustion step were subjected to ICP, nitrogen physisorption, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD). ICP results revealed that the SiO2 content in the ashes varies between 42.2 to 81.5 wt.% db and 53.4 to 90.8 wt.% db after acidic pre-treatment with 1 and 5 w/v% acid, respectively. The relative reductions of K2O by the citric acid in yam peel was the lowest (79 wt.% db) in comparison to 92, 97, 98 and 97 wt.% db calculated for corncob, cassava peel, coconut husk and cornhusk, respectively. XRD analysis revealed dominant crystalline phases of arcanite (K2SO4), sylvite (KCl) and calcite (CaCO3) in ashes of the biomass fuels pre-treated with 1 w/v% citric acid due to potassium and calcium ions present. In comparison, the 5 w/v% citric acid pre-treatment produced amorphous, biogenic silica with specific surface areas of up to 91 m2/g and pore volumes up to 0.21 cm3/g. The examined biomass residues are common wastes from food production in Africa without competition in usage with focus application. Our studies have highlighted a significant end-value to these wastes by the extraction of high quality, amorphous silica, which can be considered in applications such as catalyst support, construction material, concrete and backing material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Combined Energetic and Material Utilization of Agriculture Residues)
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