title: Assessment of factors influencing the biomethane yield of maize silages.
abstract: A large set of maize silage samples was produced to assess the major traits influencing the biomethane production of this crop. The biomass yield, the volatile solids contents and the biochemical methane potential (BMP) were measured to calculate the biomethane yield per hectare (average=7266m(3)ha(-1)). The most influential factor controlling the biomethane yield was the cropping environment. The biomass yield had more impact than the anaerobic digestibility. Nevertheless, the anaerobic digestibility of maize silages was negatively affected by high VS content in mature maize. Late maturing maize varieties produced high biomass yield with high digestibility resulting in high biomethane yield per hectare. The BMP was predicted with good accuracy using solely the VS content.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Department "Environment and Agro-biotechnologies", 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg; Université catholique de Louvain, Earth & Life Institute, Bioengineering, Croix du Sud 2, box L7.05.19, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.affiliation: Université catholique de Louvain, Earth & Life Institute, Bioengineering, Croix du Sud 2, box L7.05.19, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gerin
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Department "Environment and Agro-biotechnologies", 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Anaïs
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noo
authors.affiliation: Centre Indépendant de Promotion Fourragère, Croix du Sud 2, box L7.05.11, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Foucart
authors.affiliation: Administration des Services Techniques de l'Agriculture, 16 route d'Esch, L-1019 Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Flammang
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Department "Environment and Agro-biotechnologies", 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lemaigre
authors.affiliation: Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques, 24 chaussée de Namur, B-5030 Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sinnaeve
authors.affiliation: Centre Wallon de Recherches Agronomiques, 24 chaussée de Namur, B-5030 Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dardenne
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Public - Gabriel Lippmann, Department "Environment and Agro-biotechnologies", 41, rue du Brill, L-4422 Belvaux, Luxembourg. Electronic address: delfosse@lippmann.lu.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delfosse
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D016014:Linear Models; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D012820:Silage; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014835:Volatilization; D003313:Zea mays / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Biochemical methane potential (BMP); Biogas; Biomethanation; Renewable energy