Biogas production by anaerobic fermentation of hotel food wastes

Abstract

HOTELS face many issues related to managing and reducing food waste, as there is an estimation that one-third of the worldwide whole food production is wasted per annum. The disadvantages of failing to safely dispose of food waste appear through the rotting of organic materials and their transformation into greenhouse gases, which harm the surrounding environment. According to UK statistics, about 289,700 tons/year of waste are produced; where 79,000 tons of such wastes are food wastes. Where, Only 43% of these amounts were recycled each year. Therefore, it becomes evident that some effective technologies should be used to convert this amount of food waste into a form of renewable and environmentally friendly energy. Anaerobic digestion is a promising source for clean energy, where such food wastes are digested in the absence of oxygen by methanogenic bacteria to produce a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane. This mixture is called a biogas. It is employed to generate electricity and heat to run hotel equipment, and in addition, biogas fertilizer is produced as a by-product. The importance of recycling food waste is to produce environmentally friendly alternative energy, reduce energy consumption, reduce gas emissions and, reduce organic solid wastes by converting those to fertilizers with high nutritious value.