Abstract
Biogas and voucher are technological solutions that deal with sanitation and other environmental problems. The technology for producing biogas from faeces is termed bio-toilet and production of biochar from the same human waste is by means of Sol-char toilet. The study evaluated economic benefits and costs of sol-char toilet and compared with empirical benefits and costs estimates of bio-toilet. Cost Benefit Analysis was used to judge welfare change attribution of investment into Sol Char Toilet and Bio Toilet. The pyrolysis plant was fed with 4000 tons of faeces for which Sol char toilet incurred Total capital cost of US$ 3,140,940.38, Net Present Value (NPV) of US$9,718,817.4788, Profitability Index (PI) of 4.0942381271 and 1.4 years payback period. Bio toilet values for a total of 4000 m3 (100 units of 40 m3 each) were; - Total capital cost of US$ 36,026.05, NPV of US$89,152.75, PI of 3.4746 and 3.46 years payback period. Sol char toilet is faced with high capital requirement challenges, compared with an advantage in smaller payback period and a marginal difference in PI. The study concluded that complementary roles of sol char toilet and bio toilet in the Ghanaian economy is preferred.Keywords: Biogas; Biochar; Cost Benefit Analysis; Profitability Index; Payback period.
Highlights
1.1 Background The global debate on environmental management has been very profound
Many Ghanaians live in communities with inadequate and poor sanitation infrastructure, leading to open defecation and periodic removal of accumulated faecal sludge produced by traditional on-site sanitation facilities like septic tanks, bucket latrines, pit latrines, Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) latrines
This process often mirrors the objectives of this study are to - evaluate economic benefits production of charcoal, which is one of the most ancient and costs of sol-char toilet based on corresponding capacity industrial technologies developed by mankind – if not the used in a study of bio-toilet - prepare financial investments oldest (Harris, 1999)
Summary
1.1 Background The global debate on environmental management has been very profound. Improving excreta management is a major component of the Human Settlement and Infrastructure component of the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (2010 – 2013). Challenges of traditional on-site sanitation facilities, identified by Department of the Environment UK, 1995 include water pollution, unpleasant odours, explosion and combustion, asphyxiation, vegetation damage, and greenhouse gas emissions; (Popov, 2005). These challenges impact negatively on the environment in view of the considerable amount of unpleasant odour (pollution) and health hazard accompanying them. Biogas is a combustible gas produced by the process of anaerobic decomposition and fermentation of cellulose containing biodegradable waste materials - such as cattle dung, poultry droppings, pig excreta, human excreta, crop residues (Erdogdu, 2008), and other biodegradable organic materials by the action of methanogenic bacteria. Households use the slurry as fertilizer for their crops, especially vegetables and fruits (Walekhwa et al, 2009)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
