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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Characterization of Bathyarchaeota genomes assembled from metagenomes of biofilms residing in mesophilic and thermophilic biogas reactors
    (London : BioMed Central Ltd., 2018) Maus, I.; Rumming, M.; Bergmann, I.; Heeg, K.; Pohl, M.; Nettmann, E.; Jaenicke, S.; Blom, J.; Pühler, A.; Schlüter, A.; Sczyrba, A.; Klocke, M.
    Background: Previous studies on the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeota Group, recently assigned to the novel archaeal phylum Bathyarchaeota, reported on the dominance of these Archaea within the anaerobic carbohydrate cycle performed by the deep marine biosphere. For the first time, members of this phylum were identified also in mesophilic and thermophilic biogas-forming biofilms and characterized in detail. Results: Metagenome shotgun libraries of biofilm microbiomes were sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq system. Taxonomic classification revealed that between 0.1 and 2% of all classified sequences were assigned to Bathyarchaeota. Individual metagenome assemblies followed by genome binning resulted in the reconstruction of five metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of Bathyarchaeota. MAGs were estimated to be 65-92% complete, ranging in their genome sizes from 1.1 to 2.0 Mb. Phylogenetic classification based on core gene sets confirmed their placement within the phylum Bathyarchaeota clustering as a separate group diverging from most of the recently known Bathyarchaeota clusters. The genetic repertoire of these MAGs indicated an energy metabolism based on carbohydrate and amino acid fermentation featuring the potential for extracellular hydrolysis of cellulose, cellobiose as well as proteins. In addition, corresponding transporter systems were identified. Furthermore, genes encoding enzymes for the utilization of carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway were detected. Conclusions: For the members of Bathyarchaeota detected in the biofilm microbiomes, a hydrolytic lifestyle is proposed. This is the first study indicating that Bathyarchaeota members contribute presumably to hydrolysis and subsequent fermentation of organic substrates within biotechnological biogas production processes.
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    The future agricultural biogas plant in Germany: A vision
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2019) Theuerl, S.; Herrmann, C.; Heiermann, M.; Grundmann, P.; Landwehr, N.; Kreidenweis, U.; Prochnow, A.
    After nearly two decades of subsidized and energy crop-oriented development, agricultural biogas production in Germany is standing at a crossroads. Fundamental challenges need to be met. In this article we sketch a vision of a future agricultural biogas plant that is an integral part of the circular bioeconomy and works mainly on the base of residues. It is flexible with regard to feedstocks, digester operation, microbial communities and biogas output. It is modular in design and its operation is knowledge-based, information-driven and largely automated. It will be competitive with fossil energies and other renewable energies, profitable for farmers and plant operators and favorable for the national economy. In this paper we discuss the required contribution of research to achieve these aims.
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    Methanbildungspotenziale verschiedener Pflanzenarten aus Energiefruchtfolgen
    (Darmstadt : KTBL, 2016) Herrmann, Christiane; Plogsties, Vincent; Willms, Matthias; Hengelhaupt, Frank; Eberl, Veronika; Eckner, Jens; Strauß, Christoph; Idler, Christine; Heiermann, Monika
    Das Methanbildungspotenzial ist ein entscheidendes Qualitätsmerkmal von Biomassen bei ihrer Nutzung als Einsatzstoff für die Biogasproduktion. Von 769 unter einheitlichen Bedingungen silierten Erntegütern aus Energiefruchtfolgen wurden mittels Batch-Gärtests in zwei verschiedenen Versuchsanlagen spezifische Methanausbeuten ermittelt. Daraus konnten Richtwerte für mittlere Methanausbeuten je Fruchtart und Fruchtfolgestellung, Schnitt bzw. Trockenmassebereich oder Entwicklungsstadium zur Ernte für 93 verschiedene pflanzliche Biomassen abgeleitet werden. Die Ergebnisse stellen eine umfassende Datengrundlage dar, die in Verbindung mit Biomasseerträgen für die Abschätzung von Methanhektarerträgen zur ökonomischen und ökologischen Bewertung von Energiefruchtfolgen, zur Planung und Auslegung von Biogasanlagen sowie zur Entscheidung hinsichtlich des Anbaus alternativer pflanzlicher Kosubstrate und der Konzeption nachhaltiger Biogasfruchtfolgen genutzt werden können.
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    Process disturbances in agricultural biogas production—causes, mechanisms and effects on the biogas microbiome: A review
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2019) Theuerl, S.; Klang, J.; Prochnow, A.
    Disturbances of the anaerobic digestion process reduce the economic and environmental performance of biogas systems. A better understanding of the highly complex process is of crucial importance in order to avoid disturbances. This review defines process disturbances as significant changes in the functionality within the microbial community leading to unacceptable and severe decreases in biogas production and requiring an active counteraction to be overcome. The main types of process disturbances in agricultural biogas production are classified as unfavorable process temperatures, fluctuations in the availability of macro- and micronutrients (feedstock variability), overload of the microbial degradation potential, process-related accumulation of inhibiting metabolites such as hydrogen (H 2 ), ammonium/ammonia (NH 4 + /NH 3 ) or hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) and inhibition by other organic and inorganic toxicants. Causes, mechanisms and effects on the biogas microbiome are discussed. The need for a knowledge-based microbiome management to ensure a stable and efficient production of biogas with low susceptibility to disturbances is derived and an outlook on potential future process monitoring and control by means of microbial indicators is provided.
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    Prediction of the biogas production using GA and ACO input features selection method for ANN model
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2019) Beltramo, Tanja; Klocke, Michael; Hitzmann, Bernd
    This paper presents a fast and reliable approach to analyze the biogas production process with respect to the biogas production rate. The experimental data used for the developed models included 15 process variables measured at an agricultural biogas plant in Germany. In this context, the concentration of volatile fatty acids, total solids, volatile solids acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin, neutral detergent fibre, ammonium nitrogen, hydraulic retention time, and organic loading rate were used. Artificial neural networks (ANN) were established to predict the biogas production rate. An ant colony optimization and genetic algorithms were implemented to perform the variable selection. They identified the significant process variables, reduced the model dimension and improved the prediction capacity of the ANN models. The best prediction of the biogas production rate was obtained with an error of prediction of 6.24% and a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.9.
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    Pre- And post-adoption beliefs about the diffusion and continuation of biogas-based cooking fuel technology in Pakistan
    (Basel : MDPI AG, 2019) Yasmin, N.; Grundmann, P.
    A high level of acceptance and adoption is necessary to facilitate the widespread utilization of renewable energy technologies for cooking, as such utilization is essential for displacing the population's massive dependence on fossil fuels and solid biomass. Economic and demographic aspects have been the focus of recent literature in exploring the adoption phenomenon of biogas technology. However, literature to date has given little attention to the behavioral factors and the perceptions of the end-users. Our study does not only include behavioral factors, but it employs a hybrid model to explore the continued attentions of users based on their post-adoption beliefs and performance expectations. Using a survey conducted in Pakistan in 2017, the study conducts a multivariate analysis through structural equation modeling to measure the effect of pre- and post-adoption beliefs and expectation on adoption and the continuing intention of households towards biogas technology. Results show that the acceptance of the households towards biogas technology is highly influenced by their perceptions on the benefits, as well as their trust in the technology. The perceived cost and risk attached to the technology are found to be negatively correlated with the acceptance. Households' intentions to continue the use of biogas technology is highly influenced by the satisfaction level of the users of biogas technology. With the integrated model of adoption and continuation, the study illustrates the dynamic process in obtaining a deeper understanding of a user's behavior to better formulate the policies for increasing the rate of technology adoption.
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    Comparative advantage of maize- and grass-silage based feedstock for biogas production with respect to greenhouse gas mitigation
    (Basel : MDPI, 2016) Meyer-Aurich, Andreas; Lochmann, Yulia; Klauss, Hilde; Prochnow, Annette
    This paper analyses the comparative advantage of using silage maize or grass as feedstock for anaerobic digestion to biogas from a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation point of view, taking into account site-specific yield potentials, management options, and land-use change effects. GHG emissions due to the production of biogas were calculated using a life-cycle assessment approach for three different site conditions with specific yield potentials and adjusted management options. While for the use of silage maize, GHG emissions per energy unit were the same for different yield potentials, and the emissions varied substantially for different grassland systems. Without land-use change effects, silage maize-based biogas had lower GHG emissions per energy unit compared to grass-based biogas. Taking land-use change into account, results in a comparative advantage of biogas production from grass-based feedstock produced on arable land compared to silage maize-based feedstock. However, under current frame conditions, it is quite unrealistic that grass production systems would be established on arable land at larger scale.