Preprint Article Version 1 This version is not peer-reviewed

Agro-Industrial Effluents: A Strategic Input Material for the Generation of Biomass and Added-Value Bioproducts in Arid Regions

Pedro Federico Rizzo
ORCID logo ,
Germán Aguado
,
Iván Funes Pinter
ORCID logo ,
Laura Martínez
,
Florencia Ferrari
,
Federico De Biazi
,
Pablo Martín
,
Gustavo Flores
,
Martin Uliarte
,
Antoni Sanchéz
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 6 November 2024 / Approved: 6 November 2024 / Online: 7 November 2024 (01:26:47 CET)

How to cite: Rizzo, P. F.; Aguado, G.; Funes Pinter, I.; Martínez, L.; Ferrari, F.; De Biazi, F.; Martín, P.; Flores, G.; Uliarte, M.; Sanchéz, A. Agro-Industrial Effluents: A Strategic Input Material for the Generation of Biomass and Added-Value Bioproducts in Arid Regions. Preprints 2024, 2024110416. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0416.v1 Rizzo, P. F.; Aguado, G.; Funes Pinter, I.; Martínez, L.; Ferrari, F.; De Biazi, F.; Martín, P.; Flores, G.; Uliarte, M.; Sanchéz, A. Agro-Industrial Effluents: A Strategic Input Material for the Generation of Biomass and Added-Value Bioproducts in Arid Regions. Preprints 2024, 2024110416. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202411.0416.v1

Abstract

Agro-industrial activities generate significant amounts of organic waste and a variety of effluents, thus posing environmental challenges. Viticulture in Argentina, covering 204,847 ha in 2023, faces water scarcity as a limiting factor conditioning its production. This industry produces large volumes of grape marc, sediments, and stalks, which can be valorized into products like alcohol, tartaric acid, and compost. However, these valorization processes generate effluents with high organic load and salinity, further stressing water resources. This study explores the potential of utilizing these effluents to cultivate plant biomass in arid regions (sorghum or perennial pasture), which could serve as bioenergy, animal feed, or composting co-substrates, contributing to circular bioeconomy principles. Sorghum plots showed better establishment and higher dry biomass yield (32.6 Tn/ha) compared to pasture (6.5 Tn/ha). Sorghum demonstrated better tolerance to saline soils and high salinity effluents, aligning with previous studies. Although pasture had lower biomass yield, it was more efficient in nutrient uptake, concentrating more NPK, ash, and soluble salts. Sorghum's higher yield compensates for its lower nutrient concentration. For biomass production, sorghum is preferable, but if nutrient capture from effluents is prioritized, summer polyphytic pastures are more suitable. These results suggest that the final selection between plant biomass alternatives highly depends on whether the goal is biomass generation or nutrient capture.

Keywords

Distillery effluents; biomass; bioenergy; animal feedstock; composting co-substrate; circular bioeconomy

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Waste Management and Disposal

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.