Management of solid organic waste of the baturité massif consortium: A technical and economic analysis of biogas generation from a landfill and an anaerobic digestion plant

Abstract

Biogas recovery systems contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gases, besides adding economic value to the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. This research aims to analyze the energy potentials and economic feasibility of implementing a landfill biogas recovery system (scenario 1) and an anaerobic digestion plant (scenario 2) for the Baturité Massif Consortium in the state of Ceará, Brazil. To that end, a population projection followed by an estimate of biogas production were made using the LandGEM software. For the biogas recovery system of the landfill, an optimum power of 460 kW and a maximum energy generation of 3,223,680 kWh/yr were obtained, whereas the anaerobic digestion plant resulted a power and energy of 252 kW and 1,986,754.86 kWh respectively. According to the economic analysis, both projects are unfeasible, but the price of the energy unit generated (kWh) is 42.42% higher for the anaerobic digestion plant than for the biogas recovery system of the landfill. The methodology applied can be used for preliminary studies in other consortiums, contributing to a better waste management and energy use of biogas systems in the country.