Environmental Aspects of Food Waste-to-Energy Conversion

Ebner, Jacqueline H.; Hegde, Swati; Win, Shwe Sin; Babbitt, Callie W.; Trabold, Thomas A.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-811157-4.00010-3

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…In the past several years, some U.S. states and municipalities have passed laws requiring donation, recycling, or other forms of landfill diversion for food and organic wastes ( Bolden et al., 2019 ). These efforts are anticipated to eventually expand food waste treatment infrastructure and capacity while simultaneously generating ancillary resources, such as biogas and electricity from waste-to-energy systems ( Ebner et al., 2018 ). Realizing the potential of such systems can be supported by further policies that set forth economic incentives for firms to produce bio-products from organic waste ( De Clercq et al., 2017 ) or provide capital grants to lower upfront infrastructure costs ( Shahid and Hittinger, 2021 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, traditional management of food waste, primarily through landfilling in the U.S., leads to climate impacts associated with the release of carbon dioxide and methane ( Bernstad et al., 2016 ; Bernstad and la Cour Jansen, 2012 ). However, mitigation of these impacts is possible through alternative food recovery pathways, including rescue and redirection of high quality food surplus ( Reynolds et al., 2015 ) or recycling or composting wasted food to recover the energy and nutrients it contains ( Ebner et al., 2018 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavioral impacts on residential food provisioning, use, and waste during the COVID-19 pandemic

Babbitt

Oehman

2021

Sustainable Production and Consumption

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to food systems, leading to both food shortages and food waste across the supply chain. These disruptions have, in turn, altered how people consume and then ultimately discard food. To better understand these impacts, their underlying drivers, and their sustainability implications, this study surveyed U.S. consumers about food purchasing, use, and waste behaviors during the pandemic. Survey respondents reported an increase in overall food purchases and a slight decrease in food waste generation due to the pandemic, but the linkages between these outcomes and underlying behaviors were complex. For instance, reduced household food waste was significantly correlated with an increase in behaviors such as meal planning, preserving foods, and using leftovers and shelf-stable items. On the other hand, behaviors aimed at self-sufficiency, including bulk purchasing and stockpiling, were significantly correlated with increased food purchase, which in turn led to increased waste. Results may offer insight for future resource and waste management strategies. For example, over 60% of respondents who started or increased efficient food use behaviors stated an intent to continue these activities after the pandemic. In contrast, less than 10% of respondents reported that they began or increased separating or composting food waste during the pandemic, and many stopped altogether due to suspension of local curbside composting services. Findings suggest that it may be easier to shift food consumption and use behaviors but more challenging to alter food waste separation behaviors, particularly those influenced by external factors, such as infrastructure that may be vulnerable to disruption. Identifying ways to facilitate ongoing behavior change and foster robust food waste management systems can contribute to resilience of food systems now and once the immediate threat of the pandemic has subsided.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral impacts on residential food provisioning, use, and waste during the COVID-19 pandemic

Babbitt

Oehman

2021

Sustainable Production and Consumption

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“…Downstream processing of ethanol requires solid separation and purification which can be analysed in distillation and dehydration. Distillation is considered as an energy-intensive process and accounts for approximately 40% of the energy demand of the process [40,41]. Normally, two different columns are used in the distillation process: a stripper column, in which the ethanol is separated from solids and non-volatile compounds and a rectification column, where ethanol is concentrated near to the azeotropic point.…”

Section: System Boundaries Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Analysis of the Bioethanol Production from Food Waste—A Review

2020

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Food Waste (FW) because of its composition is considered as an ideal feedstock for the production of biofuels and in particular bioethanol. The production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials has been studied over a long time. The process consists of the stages of pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation and product recovery. However, the legal framework regarding biofuels has established specific environmental criteria for their production which are regularly updated. The most common tool for the assessment of the environmental performance of a process or product is the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). In the present review, the results of LCA studies on the production of bioethanol from food waste are presented. Significant differences are observed among the studies in terms of the methodological choices made. Despite the high heterogeneity observed which does not allow a direct comparison among them, there is strong evidence that the production of bioethanol from food waste is an eco-friendly process which can substantially contribute to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions savings.

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