Assessment of micro-scale anaerobic digestion for management of urban organic waste: A case study in London, UK

Walker, Mark S.; Theaker, Helen; Yaman, Rokiah; Poggio, Davide; Nimmo, W.; Bywater, Angela; Blanch, Gracia Patricia; Pourkashanian, Mohamed

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.01.036

Cited by 51 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It could be an especially interesting alternative in buildings where a large number of people are living, receiving a high and constant source of power to produce energy, for self-consumption in the first instance, and to sell to the electricity grid if consumption is less than production. As a practical example, a recent study in this field, carried out by Walker et al [61], analysed systems of micro-scale anaerobic digesters in London, showing that this technology could provide a useful means of processing FL in urban areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Embedded in Food Loss Management and in the Production of Uneaten Food: Seeking a Sustainable Pathway

et al. 2019

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Recently, important efforts have been made to define food loss management strategies. Most strategies have mainly been focused on mass and energy recovery through mixed food loss in centralised recovery models. This work aims to highlight the need to address a decentralised food loss management, in order to manage the different fractions and on each of the different stages of the food supply chain. For this purpose, an energy flow analysis is made, through the calculation of the primary energy demand of four stages and 11 food categories of the Spanish food supply chain in 2015. The energy efficiency assessment is conducted under a resource use perspective, using the energy return on investment (EROI) ratio, and a circular economy perspective, developing an Energy return on investment – Circular economy index (EROIce), based on a food waste-to-energy-to-food approach. Results suggest that the embodied energy loss consist of 17% of the total primary energy demand, and related to the food categories, the vegetarian diet appears to be the most efficient, followed by the pescetarian diet. Comparing food energy loss values with the estimated energy provided for one consumer, it is highlighted the fact that the food energy loss generated by two to three persons amounts to one person's total daily intake. Moreover, cereals is the category responsible for the highest percentage on the total food energy loss (44%); following by meat, fish and seafood and vegetables. When the results of food energy loss and embodied energy loss are related, it is observed that categories such as meat and fish and seafood have a very high primary energy demand to produce less food, besides that the parts of the food supply chain with more energy recovery potential are the beginning and the end. Finally, the EROIce analysis shows that in the categories of meat, fish and seafood and cereals, anaerobic digestion and composting is the best option for energy recovery. From the results, it is discussed the possibility to developed local digesters at the beginning and end of the food supply chain, as well as to developed double digesters installations for hydrogen recovery from cereals loss, and methane recovery from mixed food loss.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Embedded in Food Loss Management and in the Production of Uneaten Food: Seeking a Sustainable Pathway

et al. 2019

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“…Taking advantage of these characteristics, several companies developed large scale centralized AD processes able to valorize the organic fraction of MSW [10][11][12]. More recently, micro-scale AD processes were developed and are being tested to locally valorize urban biowaste, including food waste [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storage of Food Waste: Variations of Physical–Chemical Characteristics and Consequences on Biomethane Potential

Degueurce¹,

Picard²,

Peu³

et al. 2019

Waste Biomass Valor

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Food waste (FW) storage influences its physical-chemical characteristics and anaerobic digestion (AD) performance. In this work we present the results of two weeks long experiment where two types of FW were stored in dedicated cells (10 L and 300 L). Air was evenly flushed on the top surface of the substrates and then analyzed to identify and quantify possible gaseous emissions. Solid and liquid fractions were also periodically sampled and analyzed for total solid, volatile solid, ammonia and VFA contents. Results showed that storage initiated a hydrolysis process that modified the physical structure of FW, leading to the production of gases (CH 4 , CO 2 and ethanol) and a partly liquefied FW. Depending on experimental conditions, a fraction between 61 and 70% of the initial substrate remained solid at the end of the storage period. In the liquid phase, a large proportion of lactic acid was measured with maximum contents of 5.9 and 14.8 g/kg vs for the small-scale experiments with two different FW types and 3.0 g/kg vs for the large-scale experiment, leading to inhibition of the biomethane potential (BMP) tests. In conclusion, this work showed that when storage of FW is needed before AD, the optimal time recommended to keep a high methane yield is one week.

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“…Although this study reports on a specific case study, the results are relevant worldwide, especially those with significant livestock and agricultural productivities. In the literature, some studies have investigated the economics of implementing AD plants on small-to medium-sized farms in various countries and regions [68,[90][91][92]. The overriding theme has been that the financial viability of a plant often needs to be assessed on a case-by-case bases as it is often highly dependent on local conditions, such as cost of energy, feedstock type and availability, and government incentives.…”

Section: Comparison To Other Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Environmental Analysis of Small-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Plants on Irish Dairy Farms

et al. 2020

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The European Union’s (EU) climate and energy package requires all EU countries to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by 2020. Based on current trends, Ireland is on track to miss this target with a projected reduction of only 5% to 6%. The agriculture sector has consistently been the single largest contributor to Irish GHG emissions, representing 33% of all emissions in 2017. Small-scale anaerobic digestion (SSAD) holds promise as an attractive technology for the treatment of livestock manure and the organic fraction of municipal wastes, especially in low population communities or standalone waste treatment facilities. This study assesses the viability of SSAD in Ireland, by modelling the technical, economic, and environmental considerations of operating such plants on commercial Irish dairy farms. The study examines the integration of SSAD on dairy farms with various herd sizes ranging from 50 to 250 dairy cows, with co-digestion afforded by grass grown on available land. Results demonstrate feedstock quantities available on-farm to be sufficient to meet the farm’s energy needs with surplus energy exported, representing between 73% and 79% of the total energy generated. All scenarios investigated demonstrate a net CO2 reduction ranging between 2059–173,237 kg CO2-eq. yr−1. The study found SSAD systems to be profitable within the plant’s lifespan on farms with dairy herds sizes of >100 cows (with payback periods of 8–13 years). The simulated introduction of capital subvention grants similar to other EU countries was seen to significantly lower the plant payback periods. The insights generated from this study show SSAD to be an economically sustainable method for the mitigation of GHG emissions in the Irish agriculture sector.

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Assessment of micro-scale anaerobic digestion for management of urban organic waste: A case study in London, UK

Cited by 51 publications

References 16 publications

Energy Embedded in Food Loss Management and in the Production of Uneaten Food: Seeking a Sustainable Pathway

Energy Embedded in Food Loss Management and in the Production of Uneaten Food: Seeking a Sustainable Pathway

Storage of Food Waste: Variations of Physical–Chemical Characteristics and Consequences on Biomethane Potential

Economic and Environmental Analysis of Small-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Plants on Irish Dairy Farms

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