Journal of Energy Bioscience 2025, Vol.16, No.2, 53-63 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/jeb 56 Economically, hemp biodiesel production can be competitive with traditional feedstocks. For instance, the production cost of hemp biodiesel can be comparable to soybean biodiesel when the lipid content in hemp biomass is optimized. A study indicated that with a 10% lipid content in hemp, the unit production cost of biodiesel could be as low as $4.13 per gallon, which is on par with soybean biodiesel (Viswanathan et al., 2021). Additionally, hemp's ability to produce significant biodiesel yields per hectare of agricultural land further underscores its potential as a sustainable and economically viable feedstock for biodiesel production (Moscariello et al., 2021; Viswanathan et al., 2021). 5 Hemp in Biogas and Biohydrogen Production 5.1 Anaerobic digestion of hemp for biogas generation Industrial hemp has shown significant potential as a feedstock for biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD). The high biomass yield and resource efficiency of hemp make it an attractive candidate for renewable biomethane production. Various parts of the hemp plant, including fibers, stalks, hurds, leaves, and inflorescences, have been evaluated for their biochemical methane potential (BMP) (Figure 1). For instance, raw hemp fibers have demonstrated a high BMP of (422±20) mL CH4·g/VS, while hemp hurds, which constitute a significant portion of the plant's dry weight, showed a lower BMP of (239±10) mL CH4·g/VS. Pretreatment methods such as alkali treatment and mechanical grinding have been found to enhance the BMP of these substrates by up to 15.9% (Matassa et al., 2020). Additionally, fresh leaves of industrial hemp have been documented to yield the highest quantities of methane, highlighting the diversity in methane yields from different parts of the hemp plant (Ingrao et al., 2020). Figure 1 Exploring the biochemical methane potential of cannabis biomass residue (Adapted from Matassa et al., 2020) 5.2 Role of microbial communities and process conditions The efficiency of biogas production from hemp through anaerobic digestion is significantly influenced by the microbial communities involved and the process conditions maintained. Anaerobic digestion is a complex process that involves various microorganisms following diverse metabolic pathways to decompose organic matter. The biodiversity of these microorganisms, along with factors such as chemical oxygen demand, water content, and total solids, play crucial roles in optimizing biogas yields (Koniuszewska et al., 2020). The microbial processes
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