Biogas

About: Biogas is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 28571 publications have been published within this topic receiving 498545 citations.

Biogas energy use in Nigeria: current status, future prospects and policy implications

Abstract: Industrial revolution brought coal, a fossil fuel, to the forefront of the global energy scene. This was later overtaken by another fossil fuel, crude oil; and natural gas is trying fast to take over the dominant role in the world energy supply mix. The increasing world-wide awareness and concern about the environmental impacts of fossil fuels coupled with the oil price shocks of the early 1970s and late 1980s, and likely future price hikes, have lent enormous weight to a switch to renewable energy sources. This paper therefore looks at biogas (renewable) energy use in Nigeria, a country which is fossil fuels rich and an oil exporting nation. In order to contain the uncertainty usually associated with structural transformation of the economy typical of a developing country like Nigeria, a three scenario analysis has been adopted to examine the future prospects of biogas in the country. While a generated energy from biogas would range between 5.0–171.0×1012 J in the period 2000–2030 under a moderate ambitious biogas technology programme, some constraints may hinder this realization. These include economic, technical and socio–cultural constraints. Recommendations to overcome these constraints and make biogas technology penetrate even more than already projected into the rural communities and poor urban households have been suggested. Part of the envisaged benefits of biogas use to the national economy includes the avoidable CO2 emissions. If biogas displaces kerosene, at least between 357–60,952 tons of CO2 per annum would be avoided.

Pretreatment techniques used in biogas production from grass

Abstract: Grass is being considered as a potential feedstock for biogas production, due to its low water consumption compared to other crops, and the fact that it can be cultivated in non-arable lands, avoiding the direct competition with food crops. However, biogas production is limited by the characteristics of the feedstock; in particular its complex lignocellulosic structure. Hence, different pretreatment methods are being investigated for grass structure disruption before undergoing the anaerobic digestion process. The aim of this paper is to review current knowledge on pretreatment techniques used for grassland biomass. Pretreatment techniques were categorized into mechanical, microwave, thermal, chemical and biological groups. The effect of the application of each studied methods on the biogas yield and on the energy balance is discussed. A further comparison between the covered techniques was revealed.