Bioenergy potential of Europe's perennial and biennial wildflowers: a combustion performance benchmark

Abstract

The European Commission prioritizes addressing environmental issues like agrobiodiversity loss within a thriving bioeconomy's defossilization. This study investigates eight native European herbaceous flowering wild plant species (WPS) like common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare L.) and wild teasel (Dipsacus fullonum L.) as co‐substrates for pellet combustion, aiming for more biodiversity‐friendly bioenergy cropping systems. A long‐term field trial in southwest Germany examined dry matter (DM) yield and biochemical composition's influence on combustion properties for these WPS and two common bioenergy crops, Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus Greef et Deuter) and Sida (Sida hermaphrodita L. var. Rusby), over two growing seasons. All eight WPS showed suitable combustion properties, comparable to Sida, with significantly higher ash melting temperatures than Miscanthus. This is largely attributed to elevated calcium (5.6–15.3 mg g−1 DM) and magnesium (0.6–2.4 mg g−1 DM) contents. A consistent WPS biomass composition is suggested by no significant year effect. Additionally, lower SO2 and HCl fugacity indicated more environmentally friendly combustion than Miscanthus. However, only a few WPS matched Miscanthus's high DM yield (6.0–12.3 Mg ha−1). This underscores the need for broader WPS investigation to find effective combined solutions for bioenergy and rural environmental protection.