Preliminary Evaluation of Macrophyte Wetland Biomasses to Obtain Second Generation Ethanol

The paper reports the preliminary analysis of a research in progress, which is studying different agronomic criteria and laboratory processing in order to find new macrophyte wetland plants able to give high biomass productivity and grow under irrigation with wastewater. The agronomic experiments took place in Italy and the following 19 species were considered: Acorus calamus L., Arundo donax L., Canna indica L., Carex elata All., Cyperus longus L., Cyperus papyrus L., Glyceria maxima (Hartm.) Holmb., Iris pseudacorus L., Juncus effusus L., Lythrum salicaria L., Miscanthus x Giganteus Greef et Deu., Phalaris arundinacea L., Phragmites australis (Trin.) Cav., Scirpus sylvaticus L., Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, Symphytum officinale asperrimum L., Thalia dealbata Fraser ex Roscoe, Typha latifolia L., Vetiveria zizanoides (L.) Nash. After the harvest each species was characterized in terms of fiber (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) and elements (C, N and S) in order to identify their potential ethanol productivity and select the ideal species for the field trials in northern and southern Italy.