Bottlenecks in biomethane production from agro-industrial wastes through anaerobic digestion

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a commercially viable option for treating several kinds of agro- and food processing wastes. It has been demonstrated as energy-efficient and eco-friendly technology for bioenergy production. It generates not only biogas, but can also provide essential nutrient recovery (N, P and K) from digested wastes which can be applied as biofertilizer. The present knowledge on anaerobic digestion is not sufficient and the full potential of it could not be tapped due to certain bottlenecks associated with it. Process inhibition is related to the characteristics of the substrate, type of the inoculum, pH, temperature, reactor configuration and the concentration of inhibitory substances. For wide dissemination of biogas plants there is a requirement in the improvement of process efficiency through modifications in the existing design of anaerobic digester for recycling of organic matter and the development of new mitigation technologies to overcome inhibitions caused by intermediate compounds. This chapter is focussed on the options and essential modifications needed to harness the full potential of biomethane production from agro-industrial wastes through anaerobic digestion.