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Efficient harvesting and storage of lignocellulosic biomass
Lignocellulosic crops and the residues of traditional agricultural crops are abundant resources that can be used as a feedstock for advanced biofuels, however in most cases they are dispersed over large areas of territory. Therefore, a well-organized, multistep supply chain is required to efficiently harvest, collect and transport the biomass to the processing plants. Since the quantities of feedstock required by industrial size plants are in the range of tens or hundreds of thousand tons, harvesting and logistics of supply are important factors to maximize the resource efficiency, that affect their economic and environmental performance, and ultimately the GHG emissions and costs of biofuels. For this reason, one of the tasks of BECOOL focused on improving the efficiency of harvesting logistics, with the aim to maximize the biomass collected during harvesting and minimize losses during storage. In this task, partner CREA-IT performed harvesting tests of a range of feedstock including almost untapped agricultural residues (maize cob, wheat chaff, olive prunings), as well as storage of tests of perennial crops and woody species (giant reed and eucalyptus). The experimental activity focused on the development of the best harvesting strategies, the fine tuning and modification of the available machines to reduce biomass losses during harvesting, and on the quantification of the biomass that
can be collected from these resources.
Fig 5. Maize cob residues left on the field. Credits: Shutterstock / Pavlo Baliukh.
Harvesting of maize cob Maize cob is a by-product with low nutritional value as a fodder that is normally left on the soil, although its effect on soil fertility is also limited. The cob is the central core of an ear of maize on which the corn kernel grows. It can be used in a range of applications including as feedstock for energy and biofuels, as a substrate for animal bedding or hydroponic cultivations, as an adsorbent for the production of active charcoal, or an abrasive material for metal or wood surface conditioning.
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