Bioenergy Production by Anaerobic Digestion Using Agricultural Biomass and Organic Wastes Routledge Studies in Bioenergy Series

Interest in anaerobic digestion (AD), the process of energy production through the production of biogas, has increased rapidly in recent years. Agricultural and other organic waste are important substrates that can be treated by AD.

This book is one of the first to provide a broad introduction to anaerobic digestion and its potential to turn agricultural crops or crop residues, animal and other organic waste, into biomethane. The substrates used can include any non-woody materials, including grass and maize silage, seaweeds, municipal and industrial wastes. These are all systematically reviewed in terms of their suitability from a biological, technical and economic perspective. In the past the technical competence and high capital investment required for industrial-scale anaerobic digesters has limited their uptake, but the authors show that recent advances have made smaller-scale systems more viable through a greater understanding of optimising bacterial metabolism and productivity. Broader issues such as life cycle assessment and energy policies to promote AD are also discussed.

1. Sustainable Agriculture and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Part 1: Legislation-Energy Policy 2. Energy and Agricultural Policy in Relation to Biomethane, with Particular Reference to the Transport Sector 3. Biomethane Production with Reference to Land Use Change Part 2: Feedstocks 4. Grass and Grass Silage: Agronomical Characteristics and Biogas Production 5. Maize and Maize Silage for Biomethane Production 6. Suitability of Microalgae and Seaweeds for Biomethane Production 7. Organic Wastes for Biomethane Production 8. Industrial Residues for Biomethane Production Part 3: Anaerobic Digestion Technology 9. Anaerobic Digesters: Perspectives and Challenges 10. Biogas Upgrading and Compression 11. Storage and Distribution of Biomethane 12. Variation in Anaerobic Digestion: Need for Process Monitoring 13. General Principles of Data Warehouse and Data Mining in Anaerobic Digestion Part 4: Genetics and Population Dynamics 14. Microbial Communities and their Dynamics in Biomethane Production 15. The Role of Molecular Biology in Optimizing Anaerobic Digestion and Biomethane Production Part 5: Sustainability in Anaerobic Digestion 16. Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool for Assessing Biomethane Production Sustainability 17. The Use of Digestate as a Substitute for Manufactured Fertiliser 18. The Sustainability of Small-Scale Anaerobic Digesters at Farm Scale 19. Biogas Technologyfor Developing Countries: An Approach to Sustainable Development Concluding Remarks Appendix: Anaerobic Digestion Application in a Typical Cambodia Family Farm – A Case Study

Nicholas E. Korres is a researcher at the University of Arkansas, USA.

Padraig O’Kiely works at Teagasc, the Irish Agricultural Authority, Ireland.

John A.H. Benzie is a Professor in the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork, Ireland.

Jonathan S. West is a senior scientist at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK.