Comparative Study of Biogas Production from Jackfruit Waste, Banana Peels, and Pineapple Peels Co-Digested with Cow Dung

Abstract

Only 42% of Uganda's population has access to electricity. The population continues to use firewood and charcoal as a source of energy, which leads to depletion of forests thus to climate change. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential of biogas production from jackfruit waste, banana peels, and pineapple peels when co-digested with cow dung as an alternative energy source. Substrates for each waste were co-digested with varying proportions (0%, 25%, and 50%) of cow dung using laboratory-scale 250 mL anaerobic digestors. The total biogas generation for jackfruit waste, banana peels, and pineapple peels after 30 days of anaerobic digestion was 82.3, 189, and 262 mL, respectively. When jack fruit waste, pineapple peels and banana peels were co-digested with 25% cow dung, the total amount of biogas produced increased by a factor of two and three, respectively. However, 50% of cow dung only significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved for jack fruit waste by two folds. Therefore, the results indicated that jackfruit waste, banana and pineapple peels can be used for biogas production to augment energy supply.

The Utilization of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) Waste towards Sustainable Energy and Biochemicals: The Attainment of Zero-Waste Technologies

“…Biogas generation from different types of jackfruit waste is a good effort for sustainable fuel sources. In this context, the potential of biogas production is found from different fruit wastes such as banana peels, jackfruit waste, and pineapple waste, and these have been used for co-digestion processes with cow dung to provide alternative energy sources [116]. During these experiments, substrates from each fruit waste were implemented into the co-digestion process with varying ratios (0%, 25%, and 50%) of cow dung.…”

“…In this experiment, an anaerobic system was found to have a 500 mL capacity and was submerged in a 20 L temperature-regulating water bath and 250 mL measuring cylinder for the generated biogas measurement task via the displacement method. The temperature of the water bath was maintained at 36.5 • C [116,119].…”