Assessment of Bioenergy Production from Solid Waste

This study aims to examine the biogas potential for animal manure, wheat straw, food waste and rice straw. Batch experiments were performed at a laboratory scale using biomethane potential (BMP) assays for a period of 50 days. The biogas yield was observed higher when using rice straw (0.51 m(3)/kg VSadded) as a substrate, as compared to wheat straw (0.44 m(3)/kg VSadded) and animal manure (0.31 m(3)/kg VSadded) substrates. Around 12-25% of biogas was produced in the initial phase of 5 days for manure, wheat straw, and rice straw feedstocks. During the middle phase of 33 days for these feedstocks, 68-80% of biogas was produced. Less than 8% of biogas was produced during the final phase of last 12 days of the experiment. The biogas production from food waste was found lowest (0.17 m(3)/kg VSadded) among all substrates. Therefore, the co-digestion of food waste and animal manure is more appropriate with wheat straw and rice straw than mono-digestion for achieving higher biogas production. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.