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The development of geopolymer building composites at a lower cost with a smaller carbon footprint may lessen the growing concerns about global warming brought on by emissions of a critical greenhouse gas (CO2) paired with the high production costs in the cement sector. Diatomaceous earth, commonly used as an admixture or partial replacement of cement owing to its most effective pozzolanic properties, has been investigated as a precursor in geopolymer concrete development. Several studies have been examined to develop a greater understanding of its characterization, inclusion status, and impacts on the performance aspects of concrete. The literature review showed that using diatomaceous earth is one of the effective ways to create sustainable, insulating, lightweight building materials while minimizing the harmful economic and environmental effects of industrial solid wastes. However, since most studies have focused on its integration as a partial cement substitute or a replacement for fine aggregate, further research on diatomaceous earth-based clinker-free concrete is required. A lack of research on geopolymer concrete’s reinforcement with either natural or synthetic fibers, or a combination of the two, was also discovered. This review also showed that there has been remarkably little effort made towards theoretical property correlation modeling for predicting concrete performance. It is anticipated that the detailed overview presented herein will guide potential researchers in defining their future paths in the study area.

The aim of the current study was to investigate biogas production from the slaughterhouse waste codigested with animal wastes. Slaughterhouses generate organic wastes that are environmentally hazardous due to high contents of biological contaminants. The use of anaerobic digestion of the slaughterhouse waste can achieve twin objectives of waste treatment and energy production as biogas. The process is however, limited by low biogas potential of slaughterhouse waste. The study evaluated the effect of codigesting the slaughterhouse, chicken and pig wastes on biogas potential. The co-digestion test with combination ratio of 1:1, slaughterhouse waste and chicken waste produced the highest value of biogas potential of 636 L/kg-VS, which was almost double that from pure slaughterhouse waste. In addition, the substrate biodegradability, the biogas productivity and the yield were most improved at 1:1 co-digestion. The digestate from the process had high nutrient contents and a maximum of; 0.8, 2.6 and 2.7% of dry matter for total nitrogen, phosphate and Potassium respectively. The kinetic analysis of the codigestion process using modified Gompertz equation indicated a correlation between the waste biodegradability and biogas yield. The enhancement of the C/N ratio in the slaughterhouse waste by co-digestion with these wastes could be responsible for the improvement of the biogas production and yield. Future studies should focus on how the nutrient rich digestate can be appropriately applied as bio-fertilizer and on how co-digestion affects the pathogens in slaughterhouse wastes.