Enhancing biogas production from perennial energy crops via bioaugmentation

With increasing concerns over energy security and environmental sustainability, the search for renewable alternatives to conventional biogas feedstocks has become increasingly important. As part of efforts to reduce dependence on corn silage, perennial energy crops such as Miscanthus x giganteus, Arundo donax and Panicum virgatum are emerging as promising candidates to meet the increasing demand for biogas production. In this study, these plants were subjected to anaerobic digestion in bioaugmented bioreactors, and the biogas production potential (BPP) was monitored during a 26-day anaerobic digestion process. The results showed that bioaugmentation significantly increased the BPP in certain cases. The addition of Miscanthus x giganteus increased BPP to 159.43 NLkg^-1 DM, while Panicum virgatum showed a 73 % increase in BPP to 115.05 NLkg^-1 DM. The results indicate that these alternative crops, especially in combination with bioaugmentation, represent a viable and sustainable solution for the diversification of feedstock for biogas production.