Bioconversion of Food Waste to Biogas
Eduardo Bittencourt Sydney, Jaíne Schneider,
Daiana Gotardo Martinez, Bruna Smaniotto,
Franciele Natividade Luiz Estevam, Larissa Schmoeller Brandt,
Thiago José Lippo de França, Alessandra Cristine Novak,
and Breno Carneiro Pinheiro
Abstract
Throughout the entire food production chain, vast
volumes of food are wasted and end up causing economic
losses and risks to health and the environment. Rationally
disposing of this waste means not only reducing social,
economic and environmental problems but making better
use of natural resources and stimulating a sustainable and
circular economy. Anaerobic biodigestion appears as an
alternative and rational destination of food wastes for the
production of clean renewable energy and liquid fertilizer.
In this chapter, we present in detail a demonstration unit
for the production of biogas from food waste, located at
Itaipu Binacional (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil), which is
composed of two biodigesters with 350 m
3 . Based on the
three years of experience in operating this demonstration
unit continuously, we present relevant information
regarding the process variables, control strategies and
results of analyses of biochemical potential of methane.
Finally, we discuss the importance of the composition of
the substrate for the establishment of stable and high
biogas productivity processes from food wastes.
1 Introduction
Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) reveal that around 1.3 billion tons of food is
globally wasted each year, which is equivalent to one-third of
all food produced for human consumption (FAO 2019). The
numbers are even more impressive when added to the losses
from food transportation, storage and harvesting. These would
be enough to feed more than 800 million people worldwide.
In an attempt to mitigate this problem, the United Nations
(UN) established goal 12 of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which proposes bold actions to reduce food
waste per capita and its losses along the production chain,
thus resulting in the reduction in global demand for more
food and reduced production costs. In addition to the food
safety aspect, food waste was responsible for 47% of the
worldwide gas emissions in 2016, from a total of 1.6 million
metric tons of CO 2 resulting from the inadequate dumping of
waste (Kaza et al. 2018). Although it exposes a monumental
problem to be faced by the whole society, there is also an
opportunity for the energetic use of gases released by the
decomposition of this material. This is important once the
growing world demand for energy is considered another
critical aspect for the near future. The energy consumption
(especially gas and electricity) has increased by 2.8% in
2018, for example (Enerdata 2019).
In Brazil, there is much to be done in terms of optimization
of harvesting, storing and distributing food in order to reduce
waste. In addition to the logistical problems, the country still
needs to expand, above all, actions to improve its management
of organic solid waste. According to data from the Brazilian
Association of Public Cleaning and Special Waste Companies
E. B. Sydney (&) Á J. Schneider Á A. C. Novak
Department of Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology,
Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Rua
Doutor Washington Subtil Chueire, 330, 84017-220 Ponta Grossa,
Paraná, Brazil
e-mail: eduardosydney@utfpr.edu.br
D. G. Martinez Á B. Smaniotto Á F. N. L. Estevam Á L. S. Brandt Á
T. J. L. de França Á B. C. Pinheiro
International Center of Renewable Energy, (CIBIOGÁS-ER),
Avenida Tancredo Neves, 6731, 85.867-900, Caixa Postal 2126,
Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
B. Smaniotto
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
F. N. L. Estevam
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
L. S. Brandt
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
T. J. L. de França
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
B. C. Pinheiro
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_6
95
Eduardo Bittencourt Sydney, Jaíne Schneider,
Daiana Gotardo Martinez, Bruna Smaniotto,
Franciele Natividade Luiz Estevam, Larissa Schmoeller Brandt,
Thiago José Lippo de França, Alessandra Cristine Novak,
and Breno Carneiro Pinheiro
Abstract
Throughout the entire food production chain, vast
volumes of food are wasted and end up causing economic
losses and risks to health and the environment. Rationally
disposing of this waste means not only reducing social,
economic and environmental problems but making better
use of natural resources and stimulating a sustainable and
circular economy. Anaerobic biodigestion appears as an
alternative and rational destination of food wastes for the
production of clean renewable energy and liquid fertilizer.
In this chapter, we present in detail a demonstration unit
for the production of biogas from food waste, located at
Itaipu Binacional (Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil), which is
composed of two biodigesters with 350 m
3 . Based on the
three years of experience in operating this demonstration
unit continuously, we present relevant information
regarding the process variables, control strategies and
results of analyses of biochemical potential of methane.
Finally, we discuss the importance of the composition of
the substrate for the establishment of stable and high
biogas productivity processes from food wastes.
1 Introduction
Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) reveal that around 1.3 billion tons of food is
globally wasted each year, which is equivalent to one-third of
all food produced for human consumption (FAO 2019). The
numbers are even more impressive when added to the losses
from food transportation, storage and harvesting. These would
be enough to feed more than 800 million people worldwide.
In an attempt to mitigate this problem, the United Nations
(UN) established goal 12 of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which proposes bold actions to reduce food
waste per capita and its losses along the production chain,
thus resulting in the reduction in global demand for more
food and reduced production costs. In addition to the food
safety aspect, food waste was responsible for 47% of the
worldwide gas emissions in 2016, from a total of 1.6 million
metric tons of CO 2 resulting from the inadequate dumping of
waste (Kaza et al. 2018). Although it exposes a monumental
problem to be faced by the whole society, there is also an
opportunity for the energetic use of gases released by the
decomposition of this material. This is important once the
growing world demand for energy is considered another
critical aspect for the near future. The energy consumption
(especially gas and electricity) has increased by 2.8% in
2018, for example (Enerdata 2019).
In Brazil, there is much to be done in terms of optimization
of harvesting, storing and distributing food in order to reduce
waste. In addition to the logistical problems, the country still
needs to expand, above all, actions to improve its management
of organic solid waste. According to data from the Brazilian
Association of Public Cleaning and Special Waste Companies
E. B. Sydney (&) Á J. Schneider Á A. C. Novak
Department of Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology,
Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná (UTFPR), Rua
Doutor Washington Subtil Chueire, 330, 84017-220 Ponta Grossa,
Paraná, Brazil
e-mail: eduardosydney@utfpr.edu.br
D. G. Martinez Á B. Smaniotto Á F. N. L. Estevam Á L. S. Brandt Á
T. J. L. de França Á B. C. Pinheiro
International Center of Renewable Energy, (CIBIOGÁS-ER),
Avenida Tancredo Neves, 6731, 85.867-900, Caixa Postal 2126,
Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
B. Smaniotto
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
F. N. L. Estevam
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
L. S. Brandt
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
T. J. L. de França
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
B. C. Pinheiro
e-mail: cibiogas@cibiogas.org
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Inamuddin and A. Khan (eds.), Sustainable Bioconversion of Waste to Value Added Products, Advances in Science,
Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61837-7_6
95