Biogas is produced from biomass by means of digestion. Treated to so-called ‘green gas’, it can replace natural gas. Alternatively, biogas can be used to produce electrical power and heat in a combined heat power (CHP) installation. In 2014 global biogas production was only 1% of natural gas production. In the future, biogas is expected to play a role in specific applications, e.g. to provide flexibility in electricity supply
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Next-generation sequencing technology allows culture- independent analysis of species and genes present in a complex microbial community. Such metagenomics may overcome the inability to culture microbes in isolation. Microbial communities of interest are for example responsible for making biogas. Many applications in metagenomics focus on 16S RNA analysis. We here evaluate the possibility of whole genome analysis (WGS) as approach for metagenomics studies.Samples (Table 1) from three biogas installations fed with different feedstock were used for DNA isolation and WGS analysis. Short (75b) Illumina paired-end DNA sequence reads were generated and assembled into larger continuous stretches (contigs),AcknowledgementsResults show that WGS is feasible for complex community analysis. Large groups of organisms (for example the class Methanomicrobia) are present in all samples with a possible role in the biogas production pathway.Assemble reads into contigs•meta-velveth as metagenomics reads assemblerSequencesimilaritysearch•proteome reference database from all currently available Bacteria and Achaea genomesAssign hits to taxa•Lowest common ancestor method incorporated in MEGAN4Such studies will help to identify and use microbial species for future improvements of biogas production dependence on process parameters and feedstock.
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The production of biogas through anaerobic digestion is one of the technological solutions to convert biomass into a readily usable fuel. Biogas can replace natural gas, if the biogas is upgraded to green gas. To contribute to the EU-target to reduce Green House Gases emissions, the installed biogas production capacity and the amount of farm-based biomass, as a feedstock, has to be increased. A model was developed to describe a green gas production chain that consists of several digesters connected by a biogas grid to anupgrading and injection facility. The model calculates costs and energy use for 1 m3 of green gas. The number of digesters in the chain can be varied to find results for different configurations. Results are presented for a chain with decentralized production of biogas, i.e. a configuration with several digesters, and a centralized green gas production chain using a single digester. The model showed that no energy advantage per produced m3 green gas can be created using a biogas grid and decentralized digesters instead of one large-scale digester. Production costs using a centralized digester are lower, in the range of5 Vct to 13 Vct per m3, than in a configuration of decentralized digesters. The model calculations also showed the financial benefit for an operator of a small-scale digester wishing to produce green gas in the cooperation with nearby other producers. E.g. subsidies and legislation based on environmental arguments could encourage the use of decentralized digesters in a biogas grid.
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Waste disposal management and the energy crisis are important challenges facing most countries. The fruit-processing industry generates daily several tons of wastes, of which the major share comes from banana farms. Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology has been applied to the treatment of wastewater, animal slurry, food waste, and agricultural residues, with the primary goals of energy production and waste elimination. This study examines the effect of organic loading (OL) and cow manure (CM) addition on AD performance when treating banana peel waste (BPW). The maximum daily biogas production rates of banana peels (BPs) with a CM content of 10%, 20%, and 30% at 18 and 22 g of volatile solids (gvs) per liter were 50.20, 48.66, and 62.78 mL·(gvs·d)−1 and 40.49, 29.57, and 46.54 mL·(gvs·d)−1, respectively. However, the daily biogas yield showed no clear interdependence with OL or CM content. In addition, a kinetic analysis using first-order and cone models showed that the kinetic parameters can be influenced by the process parameters.
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To avoid energy scarcity as well as climate change, a transition towards a sustainable society must be initiated. Within this context, governmental bodies and/or companies often note sustainability as an end goal, for instance as a green circular economy. However, if sustainability cannot be clearly defined as an end goal or measured uniformly and transparently, then the direction and progress towards this goal can only be roughly followed. A clear understanding of and a transparent, uniform measuring technique for sustainability are hence required for sustainable and circular (renewable) energy production pathways (REPPs), as society is asking for an integrated and understandable overview of the decision-making and planning process towards a future sustainable energy system. Therefore, within this dissertation, a new approach is proposed for measuring and optimizing the sustainability of REPPs; it is useful for the analysis, comparison, and optimization of REPP systems on all elements of sustainability. The new approach is applied and tested on a case based on farm-scale, anaerobic digestion (AD), biogas production pathways.
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Biogas plays an important role in many future renewable energy scenarios as a source of storable and easily extracted form of renewable energy. However, there remains uncertainty as to which sources of biomass can provide a net energy gain while being harvested in a sustainable, ecologically friendly manner. This study will focus on the utilization of common, naturally occurring grass species which are cut during landscape management and typically treated as a waste stream. This waste grass can be valorized through co-digestion with cow manure in a biogas production process. Through the construction of a biogas production model based on the methodology proposed by (Pierie, Moll, van Gemert, & Benders, 2012), a life cycle analysis (LCA) has been performed which determines the impacts and viability of using common grass in a digester to produce biogas. This model performs a material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) on the biogas production process and tracks several system indicators (or impact factors), including the process energy return on energy investment ((P)EROI), the ecological impact (measured in Eco Points), and the global warming potential (GWP, measured in terms of kg of CO2 equivalent). A case study was performed for the village of Hoogkerk in the north-east Netherlands, to determine the viability of producing a portion of the village’s energy requirements by biogas production using biomass waste streams (i.e. common grass and cow manure in a co-digestion process). This study concludes that biogas production from common grass can be an effective and sustainable source of energy, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and negative environmental impacts when compared to alternate methods of energy production, such as biogas produced from maize and natural gas production.
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During the opening of the Hanze Energy Transition Centre or EnTranCe (2015-10-13) posters were on display for the King and for the public. During the opening these posters where accompanied by the researchers to explain their research in more detail if questions did arise.
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Abstract written for an poster presentation at the EBA conference in Alkmaar. The flexibility of biogas makes it a very capable load balancer within decentralized smart energy systems. However, within this context the sustainability of biogas production is not fully understood. What is needed is a tool for analyzing the ustainability of biogas production pathways. The main goal, of this research is to design a transparent flexible planning tool capable determining the sustainability of decentralized biogas production chains. This insight will help in designing a tailor-made biogas production chain for a specific geographic location, increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of biogas as a renewable resource.
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Abstract written to Biogas Science for oral presentation. Regarding a new methodology for determining the energy efficiency, carbon footprint and environmental impact of anaerobic biogas production pathways. Additionally, results are given regarding the impacts of energy crops and waste products used as feedstock.
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Organic wastes like cooking-waste, farm-waste and manure have detrimental effect on the environment, health and hygiene of people. Within India there are possibilities to manage the available biomass in an efficient way, which can bringenvironmental, health and economic benefits. Through anaerobic digestion, biomass can be converted into biogas and digestate, which can be used as renewable energy source and fertilizer respectively. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how to use the available biomass and, thus, its products in a beneficial way. This leads to the main question: How to fit biogas productionwithin the existing energy infrastructure of India? Our approach involves modelling biogas chains from production to consumption and then analyse several different options. Within the Flexigas project a flexible BioGas simulator is being created, which is capable of simulating biogas production and consumption process. The simulator takes into account the location andavailability of biomass, different biomass and biogas transport, anaerobic digesters, biogas upgraders and various cost involved in the biogas production process. A multi-touch User Interface is used for simulation control and result visualization. Results from the simulator shows how feasible it is to set up the biogas chains, its advantages and increases knowledge on effective biomass use.
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