The potential of bio-methane as bio-fuel/bio-energy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: a qualitative assessment for Europe in a life cycle perspective

Tilche, A.; Galatola, Michele

doi:10.2166/wst.2008.039

Cited by 76 publications

(26 citation statements)

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“…In the USA there are 650 sewage sludge digesters, 106 of which had gas utilisation (Kalogo and Montieth, 2008). The European Commission has reported that the AD of domestic waste (sewage sludge and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste) could in theory provide 3% of Europe's energy needs (Tilche and Galatola, 2008) and the UK government has announced a strategy to encourage the uptake of AD as a source of renewable energy (DEFRA, 2011). Increased use of AD is an opportunity for the water industry because of their experience and integration within existing WWT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon dioxide releases from wastewater treatment: potential use in the UK

Byrns¹,

Wheatley

Smedley³

2013

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering

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Power consumption by the UK water industry has increased as a result of the introduction of new quality standards; the annual (2008/2009) carbon dioxide output was reported at 5·1 Mt. Biogenic output of carbon dioxide for the sector was calculated to be about 2 Mt. The strategies available to the water industry for reducing carbon footprint are increased use of renewable energy, principally anaerobic digestion, using less power and methods for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. This paper reports on work sponsored by UK Water Industry Research to examine methods for capturing and utilising carbon dioxide from wastewater treatment. The review has concluded that bioconversion and biofixation using algae and hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis are the most promising methods for utilising carbon dioxide. These technologies would readily integrate into existing industry flow sheets and both increase biogas production and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon dioxide releases from wastewater treatment: potential use in the UK

Byrns¹,

Wheatley

Smedley³

2013

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering

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“…Thereby, biogasification using energy crops is the only fuel-producing process with a closed CO 2 and nutrient cycle (8). The production of biogas from plant waste or other organic materials is a feasible strategy in view of both ecology and economy (63). Fodder beet was chosen as the renewable biomass source for a thermophilic biogas fermentor because the European Union decreased the regulatory price for sugar beets in 2006, and therefore many farmers are looking for an alternative use.…”

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confidence: 99%

Anaerobic Digestion of Renewable Biomass: Thermophilic Temperature Governs Methanogen Population Dynamics

Krakat

Westphal

Schmidt

et al. 2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

112

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Beet silage and beet juice were digested continuously as representative energy crops in a thermophilic biogas fermentor for more than 7 years. Fluorescence microscopy of 15 samples covering a period of 650 days revealed that a decrease in temperature from 60°C to 55°C converted a morphologically uniform archaeal population (rods) into a population of methanogens exhibiting different cellular morphologies (rods and coccoid cells). A subsequent temperature increase back to 60°C reestablished the uniform morphology of methanogens observed in the previous 60°C period. In order to verify these observations, representative samples were investigated by amplified rRNA gene restriction analysis (ARDRA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Both methods confirmed the temperature-dependent population shift observed by fluorescence microscopy. Moreover, all samples investigated demonstrated that hydrogenotrophic Methanobacteriales dominated in the fermentor, as 29 of 34 identified operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were assigned to this order. This apparent discrimination of acetoclastic methanogens contradicts common models for anaerobic digestion processes, such as anaerobic digestion model 1 (ADM1), which describes the acetotrophic Euryarchaeota as predominant organisms.The replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy sources such as agricultural crops is gaining momentum internationally as a means to decrease emissions from conventional fuel sources impacting global warming (39). Thereby, biogasification using energy crops is the only fuel-producing process with a closed CO 2 and nutrient cycle (8). The production of biogas from plant waste or other organic materials is a feasible strategy in view of both ecology and economy (63). Fodder beet was chosen as the renewable biomass source for a thermophilic biogas fermentor because the European Union decreased the regulatory price for sugar beets in 2006, and therefore many farmers are looking for an alternative use. Furthermore, fodder beet was considered an attractive renewable energy crop due to its high methane yield per hectare (67), as well as the ideal ensiling conditions enabling the storage of beet silage for many years. Furthermore, the sugar beet was only recently identified as one of the most sustainable energy crops with regard to its water footprint when used for biofuel production (22).A long-term experiment was started on 4 July 2001 (see reference 48 for startup details), and the same biogas fermentors are still running stable due to the use of fuzzy logic control (16,48). During the conversion of biomass to methane, four different microbial processes can be distinguished: hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis (17, 69). Population changes might therefore impact the entire community by triggering an imbalance that is reflected in the bioreactor performance via accumulation of intermediates such as volatile fatty acids (mainly C 2 and C 3 ), via pH changes, or via reduced efficiency (52). This work focused on the methanogens w...

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“…Biogas can be applied on different scales with small scale domestic biogas application for cooking, or large scale industrial application with biogas use for electricity production. Upgraded biofuel can furthermore be used as transport fuel as widely implemented in Sweden (Borjesson and Ahlgren 2012;Tilche and Galatola 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%