Đurđica Kovačić

Soybean Straw, Corn Stover and Sunflower Stalk as Possible Substrates for Biogas Production in Croatia: A Review

Biomass availability is one of the key factors for biogas production in the future. Current status and possibility of utilization of harvest residues (soybean straw, corn stover and sunflower stalk) in Croatia for biogas production was given. In the last few decades, different pretreatment methods have been developed for degradation of different lignocellulosic biomass, but many of them are environmentally unfriendly and sometimes very expensive. More research and development is necessary to conduct in order to find both, economically and environmentally friendly pretreatment methods. This paper provides a review on mechanical, physical and biological methods used for different lignocellulose material pretreatment. Harvest residues are usually left in the field, but with the pretreatment process improvement, along with the soil protection they could be used for the production of huge amounts of energy in the future.