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Survival of seeds from perennial biomass species during commercial‐scale anaerobic digestion
Author(s) -
Baute K A,
Robinson D E,
Van Eerd L L,
Edson M,
Sikkema P H,
Gilroyed B H
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
weed research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-3180
pISSN - 0043-1737
DOI - 10.1111/wre.12202
Subject(s) - panicum virgatum , digestate , phalaris arundinacea , perennial plant , miscanthus , anaerobic digestion , agronomy , biomass (ecology) , biology , bioenergy , germination , panicum , eleusine indica , phragmites , botany , biofuel , weed , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology , wetland , methane
Summary Tall perennial grass species can be utilised as bioenergy feedstocks, but some are considered invasive species. Using biomass from such species as feedstocks for anaerobic digestion ( AD ) may introduce the risk of disseminating viable seeds onto agricultural lands during digestate application. To evaluate this risk, we investigated the survival rates of perennial grass seeds obtained from biomass species during AD . After removal from the digester, seeds were germinated and stained with tetrazolium chloride to determine viability. During three experimental runs, batches of 100 seeds from four species were exposed to 0, 2, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 168 h of mesophilic (38°C) AD within a commercial‐scale digester. Seed viability of Phalaris arundinacea, Phragmites australis, Panicum virgatum and Solanum lycopersicum was reduced by 95% ( LT 95 ) after 29, 52, 98 and 105 h of AD respectively. Commercial digesters that utilise perennial grasses as a feedstock typically have retention times ranging from 240 to 1480 h, which greatly exceeds the LT 95 values found in this study. Anaerobic digestion resulted in the rapid death of seeds in all species tested, suggesting unwanted dissemination of perennial grass species via digestate application to agricultural land is unlikely.