Biogas potential for electricity generation in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

Abstract

In 2009, the Government of Abu Dhabi made a commitment to generate 7 % of its total power output from renewable sources of energy by 2020. Biomethane is considered a viable option in accomplishing this goal. The objective of this work is to estimate the biogas to electricity potential from nine different biomasses found in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, i.e., sheep dung, goat dung, cattle dung, camel dung, print paper, newspaper, carton paper, food waste, and animal waste blood. These biomasses are considered waste, and they were selected for their organic content and relative abundance in the Emirate. The objective was accomplished through experimental work measuring the biomethane potential of the nine biomasses and the estimation of their availability in the Emirate. Food waste had the highest biomethane potential yield of 517.36 mL-CH4/g-VSadded at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (STP), while newspaper had the lowest yield of 76.6 mL-CH4/g-VSadded STP, despite its high cellulose content. Varying levels of inhibition were also observed across the biomasses. An estimation of the total biomethane potential showed that the nine biomasses are able to provide 6 % of domestic electricity use in Abu Dhabi Emirate and 1.9 % of renewable energy commitment, with food waste contributing the highest fraction (51 %) and paper waste having the highest specific electricity potential (0.94 kWh/t).