Valorization of organic wastes through anaerobic digestion processes

Abstract

[Excerpt] Increasing demand for sustainable development has stimulated political interest in measures to decrease pollution and greenhouse gas production by human activities. The greatest technological challenge for human society today is the replacement of fossil fuels by energy sources that are renewable and carbon neutral. One way to meet this challenge is trough biological processes, which has the potential to generate large flows of renewable energy, useful for decentralized systems. Wastewaters, sludges, residues, and other ‘wastes of today’ must be viewed as resources, within the concept of “waste-toenergy”. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the answers to sustainable development since it reduces carbon emissions, provides clean fertilizers, and generates a green energy carrier (biogas), while concomitantly waste(water) treatment is performed. AD strategies have been implementing in order to maximize the energetic and economic value of recalcitrant wastes. [...]