Results show a slight increase in the methane yield of hay after
pretreatment with steam explosion. There is a remarkable decrease
in the hemicellulose content and a raise in the ADL content,
increasing the harshness of pretreatment. The degradation of the
hemicellulose leads to the production of aromatic compounds.
Compared to other biomasses, hay needs milder pretreatment
conditions to achieve a high degradation, requiring less energy.The utilization of hay as a feedstock in biogas-based biorefinery
concepts could help making the maintenance of grasslands in
Alpine regions profitable. Further attempts to optimize the pretreatment conditions should be undertaken