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In this study, phenolic compounds using deep eutectic solvents (DES) were extracted from cork dust, and the biogas production potential of DES-treated cork dust samples was determined. The DES treatment was carried out using choline chloride and formic acid (1:2 M ratio) at various temperatures (90, 110 and 130 °C) and treatment times (20, 40 and 60 min) at a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:10 g mL -1 . The highest total phenolic content (137 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g -1 dry cork dust) was achieved at 110 °C/20 min. The extracts exhibited an antioxidant capacity of up to 56.3 ± 3.1 % 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydazyl (DPPH) inhibition at a dilution rate of 100. DES treatment resulted in minimal sugar solubilization at low temperatures, while approximately 42 % of the xylan fraction in the biomass degraded under severe conditions (e.g., 130 °C/60 min). Catechin, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and gallic acid were the major phenolics in DES extracts. The biogas yield of DES-treated cork dust increased with treatment severity. The highest biogas yield (115.1mL N g VS -1 ) was observed at 130 °C/60 min, representing an increase of 125 % compared to the untreated sample. SEM images revealed that the surface structure of the samples became smoother after mild pretreatment and rougher after harsh pretreatment. Compositional and FTIR analyses indicated that a higher biogas formation potential was associated with increased cellulose content in the substrate, which could be attributed to hemicellulose solubilization in the hydrolysate. Overall, DES pretreatment effectively enhanced phenol extraction and anaerobic degradability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The feasibility and influence of co-combustion of woody biomass on the fuel side costs is discussed for three hard coal power plants located in Berlin, Germany. Fuel side costs are defined as the costs resulting from flue gas cleaning and by-products. To have reliable data, co-firing tests were conducted in two power plants (i.e., slag tap furnace and circulating fluidising bed combustion). The amount of wood which was co-fired varied at levels below 11% of the fuel heat input. Wood chips originating from landscape management were used. The analyses show that co-combustion of woody biomass can lower the fuel side costs and that the co-combustion at a level below 10% of the thermal capacity is technically feasible without major problems. Furthermore, a flexible spreadsheet tool was developed for the calculation of fuel side costs and suggestions for operational improvements were made. For example, the adaptation of the Ca/S ratio (mass ratio of calcium in limestone to sulphur in the fuel) in one plant could reduce the fuel side costs up to 135 k€ yr(-1) (0.09 €M Wh(-1))., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: Within the last decade natural gas gained considerable importance in Chile. The contribution of natural gas within the energy system will increase in the future by predicted 3.6% annually until the year 2015. Due to limited resources within its own country, the energy system of Chile depends on natural gas imports preferential from Argentina. Therefore, the aim of several stakeholders from policy and industry is to reduce the share of imported primary energy within the overall energy system. In order to reach this goal, the use of domestic resources and particularly the utilisation of biomass as one of the most important renewable sources of energy in Chile could play an important role. Against this background, the goal of this paper is the analysis of the technical potentials of biomethane as a substitute for natural gas. For the production of biomethane the anaerobic or bio-chemical (i.e. Biogas) as well as the thermo-chemical conversion pathways (i.e. Bio-SNG) are considered. The results of this analysis show that biomass converted to biomethane is a promising energy provision option for Chile and it contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]