Development and test of a total technical concept of colleting leaves from rape seed in the autumn for biogas production

The use of energy crops for biogas production in Denmark is restricted for very good reasons. Instead farmers may recover all kinds of residual biomass and plant material which is not the main crop and use it for biogas production. In Denmark cultivation of 193,000 ha of winter rape seed took place in 2015. If say 20 ton rape seed leaves can be recovered by autumn harvest per ha, the total production potential is estimated to 170 mil Nm3 CH4 on a yearly basis. In addition, this biomass will be co-ensiled with straw, which may double the potential. Previous EUDP project proved significant synergy effects on the methane yield of straw if co-ensiled with green biomass.  If harvested, farmers may also avoid the use of pesticides both for weed control and halting the growth of the rape seed in the autumn, which may turn out to be significant derived environmental benefits of the technology. The objective of this project is to develop and test a total concept of cultivation, harvest, storage and utilization of rape seed leaves for biogas production. The activities will be experimental development of machinery and agricultural expertise in cultivation, harvest, storage and use of the biomass as a substrate in biogas plants.