Abstract
The energy sector is an essential part of a country’s economy – it drives innovation and advances in industrialisation. Coal is the primary source of energy in South Africa. Coal contributes 95% of energy production; coal-fired power also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and is thus a hazard to human health and the environment. This calls for an energy mix that is renewable, sustainable, and affordable and that is carbon neutral (climate action). We investigated the potential of anaerobic mono-and co-digestion of goat manure, chicken manure, potato peels, maize pap, and cow manure inoculum for mesophilic recovery of renewable energy using the biomethane potential test. The substrates were characterised through proximate and ultimate analyses to determine the composition preferable for mono- and co-digestion. The key considerations in the determination of both the yield and production rate of methane from digestion of biomass are the substrate composition and characterisation. A high percentage of volatile solids favoured optimum biomethane production as highly volatile components provide microbes with balanced nutrients that enhance metabolic processes to produce biomethane. The mono-digestion process produced lower biomethane than did co-digestion. Higher production of biomethane by co-digestion was due to the balance of the micronutrients and macronutrients that favoured microbial metabolism and regulation of pH. Significance: The results highlight the need for appropriate techniques in combining energy and waste management. Biogas could provide solutions for some of South Africa’s energy necessities, particularly in rural areas that have abundant biogas.
Highlights
South Africa is fortunate to have an abundance of assorted energy resources that are yet to be exploited and contribute to the energy mix
We investigated the potential of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of potato peels, maize pap, chicken manure, and goat manure for renewable energy recovery
Moisture content and total solids played an important role in optimal digestion, by enabling the digestion process to generate high-quality biomethane
Summary
South Africa is fortunate to have an abundance of assorted energy resources that are yet to be exploited and contribute to the energy mix. Food wastage is globally reported to be higher in developed than in developing countries.[37,38] An annual per capita average of food waste in developed countries ranges from 100 kg to 170 kg, which is double that of developing countries.[39] A few developing countries, including India and China, are considered to have greater challenges in food waste disposal despite the broad total population.[39] More than 40% of the food (about 222 million tons) is lost or wasted in the retail pathway and consumer stages in developed countries, which is nearly as high as the total net food production in sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons).[39] anaerobic digestion technology is a well-known technology for energy recovery, there are still unaddressed issues related to economic and environmental concerns, food security, technology choice, organic loading rates, nature of substrates, parameters variation in different locations globally, disposal of digestate after digestion, and mitigation to climate change.[40,41] In the present study, we investigated the potential of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of potato peels, maize pap, chicken manure, and goat manure for renewable energy recovery
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