Using CERES-Maize to estimate the regional biogas potential of the model region Biberach (South-West Germany)
- Publication Type
- Contribution to conference
- Authors
- Mast, B., Kiesel, A., Arwiszus, S., Graeff-Hönninger, S., Claupein, W.
- Year of publication
- 2012
- Published in
- Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Protection
- Editor
- A.G. Olabi & K.Y. Benyounis
- Page (from - to)
- 143-148
- Conference name
- 5th International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Protection
- Conference location
- Dublin
- Conference date
- 05. – 8.06.2012
Given political targets have led to an increased demand of renewable energies. This increased demand requires, particularly with regard to bioenergy production such as biogas, a secure and sufficient substrate supply to plan the power dimensioning of biogas plants and to run them economically. However, up to now power dimensioning of biogas plants mainly relies on looking at mean production potential and yield of major biogas crops like maize in the region of interest. The impact of possible political or other motivated changes in the cropping systems on overall biomass production and thus capacity utilization of biogas plants cannot be simulated yet and leads to a remaining risk for biogas plant planning.
Process-oriented crop growth models could serve as useful tools, to estimate crop yields and overall biomass production in the region of interest under various scenarios, offering the change to lower the risk of over dimensioning the capacity and numbers of biogas plants in a specific region. The objective of this study was to estimate maize biomass yields under different scenarios (e.g. earlier sowing dates, later harvest dates) for the county of Biberach (Southwest Germany) using the process-oriented crop growth model CERES-Maize implemented into the DSSAT 4.0 shell. The simulation indicated a good fit between measured and simulated crops yields in the region (R² = 0.605). Simulated management scenarios indicated an increase of maize yields with an extension of the vegetation period, independent of the soil type. Obtained data can be used for future planning purposes of biogas plants and their capacity load.