Miscanthus in AD?

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
Anyone any knowledge on the potential for Miscanthus to be used in anaerobic digestion?

I know it has it's uses as a fuel source elsewhere, but what about AD?

Misc may not be as high carb yielding but is much cheaper to grow, more enviro friendly and suits marginal land. Anyone any ideas where things stand with all these considered?
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Anyone any knowledge on the potential for Miscanthus to be used in anaerobic digestion?

I know it has it's uses as a fuel source elsewhere, but what about AD?

Misc may not be as high carb yielding but is much cheaper to grow, more enviro friendly and suits marginal land. Anyone any ideas where things stand with all these considered?
No use for ad, as it is harvested when the leaf has dropped returning nutrients to the soil. All that is left is mainly lignin, which is not digestible without expensive treatment to break down the lignin bonds.
 
Anyone any knowledge on the potential for Miscanthus to be used in anaerobic digestion?

I know it has it's uses as a fuel source elsewhere, but what about AD?

Misc may not be as high carb yielding but is much cheaper to grow, more enviro friendly and suits marginal land. Anyone any ideas where things stand with all these considered?

Very high establishment costs.

It likes wet ground so harvesting around now can cause serious damage to the bulbs meaning they might not grow again.

Because it goes in for many years the root mass destroys drainage systems.

Not the easiest to kill and remove at the end.

Burns really well in a biomass boiler though with great calorific value.
 
Very high establishment costs.

It likes wet ground so harvesting around now can cause serious damage to the bulbs meaning they might not grow again.

Because it goes in for many years the root mass destroys drainage systems.

Not the easiest to kill and remove at the end.

Burns really well in a biomass boiler though with great calorific value.
Mine was established in 2007 and so far it seems to be improving every year. It is a rhizomatous crop, and extends horizontally within the first foot of soil depth. Early years were a little disappointing. Certainly likes plenty of water in the growing season.
Nothing like as deep rooting as willow and can be knocked back easily with glyphosate in combinable following crops.
Newer higher yielding hybrids are coming on stream.
 
Mine was established in 2007 and so far it seems to be improving every year. It is a rhizomatous crop, and extends horizontally within the first foot of soil depth. Early years were a little disappointing. Certainly likes plenty of water in the growing season.
Nothing like as deep rooting as willow and can be knocked back easily with glyphosate in combinable following crops.
Newer higher yielding hybrids are coming on stream.

Nearly put in 25ha 6 years ago to feed a biomass boiler but after reasearching and visiting a few growers I got put off the idea so I’m only quoting what I saw myself at a handful of places 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Very high establishment costs.

It likes wet ground so harvesting around now can cause serious damage to the bulbs meaning they might not grow again.

Because it goes in for many years the root mass destroys drainage systems.

Not the easiest to kill and remove at the end.

Burns really well in a biomass boiler though with great calorific value.

What sort of kWh/ ton Pre losses?
 
What sort of kWh/ ton Pre losses?
4500 kwh/t naturally dried. It had quite a high ash content as well but I can’t remember what it was off the top of my head. Also had a low emission figure. Biggest draw was it reduced the tonnes required compared to straw by a lot to reach tier 1. I’ll try to find out the info but iirc home producing it put it at about £35/t in the shed ‘at that time’.
 
4500 kwh/t naturally dried. It had quite a high ash content as well but I can’t remember what it was off the top of my head. Also had a low emission figure. Biggest draw was it reduced the tonnes required compared to straw by a lot to reach tier 1. I’ll try to find out the info but iirc home producing it put it at about £35/t in the shed ‘at that time’.
This years selling price is at over £90/t fyi
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Planting cost I believe currently circa £1550 / ha, everything included.
Interesting from a totally different perspective.

I have been chatting with "some people" with a view to establishing useful extra wide buffer crops against water courses, and miscanthus has been mentioned. My perspective was that it will be great at carbon capture and will suck up nutrient run-off.

The idea would be to not becessarily harvest it every year, but flail and return.
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
Interesting from a totally different perspective.

I have been chatting with "some people" with a view to establishing useful extra wide buffer crops against water courses, and miscanthus has been mentioned. My perspective was that it will be great at carbon capture and will suck up nutrient run-off.

The idea would be to not becessarily harvest it every year, but flail and return.
I'm sure Miscanthus's carbon capturing qualities will fit in well with future ELMs aims, just need clarifying. As does the whole carbon market.
 
Last edited:
I'm sure Miscanthus's carbon capturing qualities will fit in well with future ELMs aims, just need clarifying. As dose the whole carbon market.
Should be an environmentalist’s wet dream, but as yet not recognised by Defra.
My patch will have already sequestered 1000 tonnes of CO2 (@ 2.35 tonnes / ha) since it was planted according to industry standards without any regular artificial fertiliser or herbicide applications .🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Overby

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South West
Should be an environmentalist’s wet dream, but as yet not recognised by Defra.
My patch will have already sequestered 1000 tonnes of CO2 (@ 2.35 tonnes / ha) since it was planted according to industry standards without any regular artificial fertiliser or herbicide applications .🤷🏻‍♂️
Why isn't it being recognised by Defra,? Seems like they should be creaming their scarlet cordoroys over it's potential to tick a lot of boxes.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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