Development of Renewable Sources of Energy in

Northwest Russia: Possibilities and Perspectives

Murmansk, 1. – 2. April 2008

Biogas Production from Organic Waste:

Applications for Small Communities

Tormod Briseid, Earth and Environment,

Bioforsk
 An overview:

•About the biogas prosess

•Biogas from different kind of sources/substrates
•The use of the rest product
•The use of energy
•Challenges for small biogas plants in cold climate
•Summary – important questions
The treatment of waste is a challenge

Resources  Consumption  Waste

Products  Consumption  Resource

Plants Soil products

+ Energy

The nature do not produce waste!

Bacteria ”do the job” in a biogas plant
Important to know about
bacteria!

•Bacteria are
greedy
•Bacteria are
patient (they have
lots of time)
•Bacteria do what
they want – we
have to control
their local
environment!!
The biogas process
The biogas process is a closed biological
process without oxygen where organic matter
is converted to biogas (methane and carbon
dioxide) by microorganisms.
The biogas process is the ”last choise” for the
bacteria (after the oxidation by oxygen,
nitrate or sulfate, and after acid- and
alcoholic fermentation). Produces small
amounts of heat compared to aerob processes
(with oxygen).
The production of biogas is a process which
split organic substances into an oxidized form
(carbon dioxide) and a reduced form
(methan). The methanogenic bateria
are ”the last one to the food dish”
The biogas process is a
natural process with
bacteria from nature.
What kind of substrates might be used?

Methane have low water solubility and is

easy to separate from water. The methane
can then be used ”without boiling water”.

The biogas process is useful for moisture

substrates with high water content.

Typical substrates for the biogas process:

•Sewage sludge
•Food waste
•Waste from food industry
•Manure from cows, pigs etc.
•Residues from agriculture
•”Energy” herbs and plants like gras
Examples of energy contents in different
substrates

Substrates kWh/ton
Manure from cows ........................ 140
Manure from pigs.......................... 180
Manure from poultry ..................... 450
Gras ............................................. 810
Waste from fruits and vegetables.. 950
Household food waste ………....... 1.300
Food waste from restaurants ........ 1.300
Waste from slaughterhouses ........ 2.000
Pure carbohydrates/sugar ……… 3.900
Proteins ........................................ 4.900
Fat ................................................ 8.500
Biogas is ”energy at high level”

Burning methane (in biogas) with oxygen

gives lots of energy (50,2 GJ/ton).

Methane might be used to a lot of different

purposes, f. example the production of
electricity or fuel.

When biogas is used for the production of electricity it might be

used directly. Most of the energy (about 60%) is ”lost” as heat.
It is important to make use of this heat!

When biogas is used as fuel, it is necessary to separate the

methane from carbon dioxide. This is expensive and is only
possible for larger plants today (< 10 000 tons per year).
 Production of rest products
The biogas process produces a moist rest
product (the biorest), about 8% dry matter.
The biorest contains the important
nutrients (ammonia, potassium and
phosphorus), stable organic matter and
biomass.

In order to use the biorest in agriculture it is important:

• High quality with respect to nutrients and contaminants

• Using the biorest directly (without dewatering) all nutrients are
used, but this represent large volumes for transport and storage.
• Dewatered biorest needs further processing, f.ex. composting. How
do you use the water phase (rich at N, and K)?

The biogas process produces no waste products!

Biorest used as N-fertilizer

By using the biorest as a fertilizer,

it will replace the use of other fertilizers
It is important to recirculate phosphorus

Økende forbruk Available resources only for

100 – 250 years.

The use of the produced

biorest as a fertilizer saves
phosphorus.

More than 80%

used in agriculture
 Challenges for small biogas plants
in cold climate

• Investment costs are higher (per kWh produced) for small plants.
• Example 1: 1700 m3 waste per year, mostly pig manure, some food
waste. Produces about 600 000 kWh per year. Reactor volume 220
m3. Total investment costs about 450 000 euro (in Norway).
• Example 2: 8000 m3 waste per year, mostly pig manure, some food
waste. Produces about 3 000 000 kWh per year. Total investment
costs about 1.100 000 euro (in Norway).
• The biogas process produces only small amounts of heat by itself.
The process needs energy added to keep the process at the right
temperature, f. ex. 35 – 38°C or 55 – 60°C. More heat loss from
small plants in cold climate.
 Summary - important questions

• How much, and what kind of substrates are available?

• The quality of the substrates. What kind of pretreatment is
necessary before the biogas process.
• The use of the energy. Is it possible to use both the heat and
electricity. Is the use as fuel a possibility?
• The use of the biorest. Is it a need for organic nutrients in
the surrounding area, f.ex. any agriculture?
• It is important to have plans/agreements both for the
substrate delivery, the use of the energy and the use of the
produced biorest before building the plant!

Thank you for your attention