Cultivation of dominant crops on land over the years can lead to a number of environmental consequences such as loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, farmers are advised to turn parts of their plots back into meadow, but the question arises whether this will bring them economic profit.
Experts from Iowa State University offer a solution that, they say, will benefit everyone – farmers, businesses and, ultimately, society as a whole.
We are talking about the use of grass biomass for the production of natural biogas, which was studied by the research team from the aforementioned university for six years.
Professor of Ecology and Natural Resource Management Lisa Schulte Moore, together with her colleagues, modeled the economic feasibility of producing gas from grass in different environments and from different perspectives.
Their work is focused on optimizing and expanding the use of anaerobic digesters – plants in which the natural process of biodegradation of organic matter takes place without the addition of oxygen. Captured in reservoirs, biogas can be processed into a fuel that has the potential to replace petroleum-based natural gas and is used to power electrical generators.
“To replace natural gas with resources that revitalize sustainable agriculture, we need to be able to quantify how much energy we can produce and show that it can be cost-effective and environmentally friendly,” said study co-author Mark Mba-Wright.
Renewable natural gas as the most profitable
In a study published in the journal BioEnergy Research, researchers modeled how a digester network in the city of Ames, Iowa, could meet the city’s heat and power needs. According to their estimates, it would be enough to install 10 digesters at different locations that would use livestock manure, biofuel by-products, food waste, wastewater and grass as raw materials. The fact that renewable natural gas has proven to be the most economically viable can inform city leaders’ decision-making, Mba-Wright said.
In another study, scientists analyzed two hypothetical digesters using grass biomass and concluded that over their expected lifetime of 20 years, these plants would generate a combined profit of over $400 million under the best conditions. The researchers also claim that over two decades, 45 million gigajoules of renewable natural gas would be produced – that’s about 12.5 billion kilowatt hours – with an 83 percent lower carbon footprint than natural gas derived from fossil fuels. Emissions would also be lower than those from corn-based ethanol or soy-based biodiesel, experts say.
Milena Maglovski
Source: energetskiportal.rs
