Economic and environmental assessment of organic waste to biomethane conversion

Gupta, R. , Miller, R., Sloan, W. and You, S. (2022) Economic and environmental assessment of organic waste to biomethane conversion. Bioresource Technology, 345, 126500. (doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126500) (PMID:34890814)

Abstract

Biomethane and biofertilizer production by anaerobic co-digestion of organic waste serves a promising method for reducing the environmental footprint of organic waste management. This study evaluated the techno-economic feasibility and environmental impacts of organic waste-to-biomethane development in Glasgow, UK using net present value (NPV) analysis and life cycle assessment. Four different biogas upgrading technologies (pressurized water scrubbing, chemical scrubbing, membrane separation, and pressure swing adsorption) were compared. The membrane separation technology-based biomethane production meets 0.8% of the gas demand for Glasgow households with a conversion efficiency of 83%. The organic waste-to-biomethane development saved up to 264 kg CO2-eq annually per tonne of waste treated, with an NPV ranged between £-9.0 million and £-12.0 million based on the upgrading technology. High costs for waste collection and transportation are primarily responsible for the negative NPV. Carbon taxes between £31.30 and £58.02 per tonne of CO2 are needed for economically viable biomethane production.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: You, Dr Siming and Gupta, Dr Rohit and Sloan, Professor William
• Authors: Gupta, R., Miller, R., Sloan, W., and You, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Bioresource Technology
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0960-8524
• ISSN (Online): 1873-2976
• Published Online: 07 December 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd.
• First Published: First published in Bioresource Technology 345: 126500
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
309846		Decentralised water technologies	William Sloan	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/V030515/1	ENG - Infrastructure & Environment