Biotechnology for Zero Waste – Emerging Waste Management Techniques (Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain (editor) etc.)

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Critical Issues That Can Underpin the Drive for Sustainable

Anaerobic Bioreﬁnery

Spyridon Achinas

University of Groningen, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, Netherlands

31.1

Introduction

In the quest for renewable energy sources (RES), next-generation biofuels seem

to provide energy security and ecological relief. The debate for the ecological and

cost-efficient character of biofuels has raged for several years the entrepreneurial

communities and governmental parties. This calls into question whether large-scale

production of next-generation biofuels renders a sustainable solution for renewable

heat, electricity, and transport fuel production. The consensus of policymakers to

elucidate biofuels’ future role is resonant, and the disjunction between techno-

logical practicalities and law can accelerate the bioenergy deployment. The vast

amount of organic waste and its abatement are a major challenge most countries

are facing [1]. Worldwide political pressures increased because of the consumption

of energy derived from fossil fuel reserves on the climate. These pressures induced

the Paris climate agreement, which shifted the focus of the industrial energy sector

toward energy derived from RES instead of energy derived from fossil reserves such

as crude oil, coal, and natural gas [2].

Technology for the production of biogas, anaerobic digestion (AD), is usable in a

broad range of applications, such as electricity production, heating and transporta-

tion, and storage due to the flexibility of the energy carrier biogas [3]. The versatile

use of biogas embroiders the AD landscape and enhances its bioenergy practicali-

ties. In addition, AD produces nutrient-rich digestate that is recycled to farmlands to

act as organic fertilizer and diminish negative environmental impacts such as odors

and eutrophication of freshwater systems, which could occur if the disposal of such

nutrients is not accurately controlled and managed [4].

Biowaste is most of the time a significant and sometimes the sole component in

different waste streams from diverse sources such as agricultural residues (crop

residues, straws, etc.), industrial wastes (paper mill discards, sawdust, etc.), forestry

wastes (grass, wood, etc.), domestic wastes (municipal paper, etc.), and municipal

solid wastes or agro-industrial waste [5]. Biogas is the metabolic product of the

decomposition of a wide spectrum of organic waste (e.g. manure, crop residues,

Biotechnology for Zero Waste: Emerging Waste Management Techniques, First Edition.

Edited by Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain and Ravi Kumar Kadeppagari.