Potential for biofuels from the biomass of prickly pear cladodes: Challenges for bioethanol and biogas production in dry areas
| Autor: | Emmanuel Damilano Dutra, Marcos Antonio de Morais, Taciana do Nascimento Santos, Diogo Ardaillon Simões, Raquel de Fátima Rodrigues de Souza, Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes, Fernanda Cristina Bezerra Leite, Djalma Cordeiro dos Santos, Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu, Adelson Gomes do Prado |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
PEAR
biology Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment Chemistry 020209 energy food and beverages Biomass Forestry 02 engineering and technology 010501 environmental sciences biology.organism_classification 01 natural sciences body regions Energy crop Agronomy Bioenergy Biofuel 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Cladodes Ethanol fuel Water-use efficiency Waste Management and Disposal Agronomy and Crop Science 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Biomass and Bioenergy. 85:215-222 |
| ISSN: | 0961-9534 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.12.005 |
| Popis: | Prickly pear is a term used to refer to several species of cactus belonging primarily to the genus Opuntia. In general, these species present an exceptional ability to produce biomass in soil and climate conditions unfavorable for most plant species, in part due to their high water use efficiency. Given the current increase demand for renewable energy and the future prospect of more limited water resources, the potential use of prickly pear cladodes for biofuel production deserves to be investigated. The objectives of this study were to gather information on the chemical composition of prickly pear biomass from the most cultivated varieties in NE Brazil, discuss the potential of processing biomass for ethanol and biogas production and to point out gaps in know-how and priorities for research on this topic. We quantified in the tree varieties studied significant amounts of uronic acids (10.7%) and oxalic acid (10.3%), confirming the reports of high amounts of pectin and calcium oxalate in cladodes of prickly pear. The estimated potential of ethanol production for prickly pear (1490–1875 L ha−1 yr−1) was low when compared to traditional biomass sources (sugarcane and sugar beet, for example). However, it appears that prickly pear stands out as a biomass with potential for high production rates of methane (3717 m3 ha−1 yr−1), being comparable to traditional energy crops. Further studies are needed to assess more consistently both the sustainability of biomass production as the potential for ethanol, and biogas production, specially for newly released varieties of prickly pear. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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