Energy Valuation of Animal Excrement in the Production of Biogas: Study of the Biomethanation of Rabbit Dungs in Laboratory in Senegal

Abstract

Domestic biogas is increasingly seen as an alternative solution to the access to energy in rural areas in Africa. However, incubation will necessarily pass through the use of accessible substrates and high methanogenic power. The aim of this study is to produce biogas based on rabbit dungs in semi-controlled environments. The methodology used is essentially based on the determination of the methanogenic potential of rabbit dungs, dungs co-digested with sludge and market waste and the methane yield. The assessment of the production of the different mixtures in the laboratory shows that it is the combination of dungs and market waste which gives the best methane yield with 85.8%, followed by combinations of dungs and sludge, dungs and sewage sludge which respectively produce 66.5% and 66.2% of methane. Finally, the dungs alone recorded a 50% yield of methane. The biofertilizers obtained from the anaerobic digestion of dungs can be valued as a fertilizer in agriculture and as a nutrient in fish farming. Thereby, the valorization of rabbit dungs in the production of biogas can open interesting perspectives in energy production and in the fight against climate change (greenhouse gas).