Catch crops for agricultural biogas production, case study for Brassicaceae sp.

Catch crops cultivated in autumn or over winter can be used as feedstock for agricultural biogas production. Brassicaceae crops are good candidates for this specific use due to their agronomic values in intercropping conditions. However their high content in glucosinolate may conduct to sulphur release in the digesters and induce anaerobic digestion troubles or biogas pollution with hydrogen sulphide. In this study, Brassicaceae crops were used as co-substrate with pig slurry in anaerobic digesters. Their anaerobic biodegradability was close to other lignocellulosic biomass with a large fraction of slowly biodegradable organic matter content. The sulphur and glucosinolates contents in plants did not inhibit the overall anaerobic process neither severely impacted hydrogen sulphide concentration in the biogas.