BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY, vol.1, pp.1-9, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Dairy manure is a valuable by-product of the animal production industry, but it may cause environmental problems due to
inappropriate management and utilization. Although Elodea canadensis is an invasive species, it can be used as a renewable
energy source for production of some biorefnery products such as biogas. Therefore, the potential use of E. canadensis
biomass as a co-substrate for biogas generation was investigated by gradually increasing the amount of E. canadensis in the
mixture containing dairy manure. Microalgae collected directly from Lake Eğirdir by hand were frst dried and then subjected
to grinding. Five diferent mixtures were prepared for the co-fermentation of E. canadensis with dairy manure. The experiments were carried out in the anaerobic digester unit, which consists of 2-L bottles in a temperature-controlled water bath.
The results showed that the specifc methane production of the mixture containing only dairy manure was 192.3 mL CH4/g
OM, while that of the mixture containing only E. canadensis was measured as 151.1 mL/g OM. As a result, the increase
in the amount of E. canadensis in the mixture decreased biogas and CH4 production. However, this study showed that it is
possible to produce biogas from E. canadensis, and an undesirable invasive species in natural water resources can be used
as a biomass energy source.