Life cycle assessment of food waste to energy and resources: Centralized and decentralized anaerobic digestion with different downstream biogas utilization

Tian, Hailin; Wang, Xiaonan; Lim, Ee Yang; Lee, Jonathan T.E.; Ee, Alvin Wei Liang; Zhang, Jingxin; Tong, Yen Wah

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111489

Cited by 100 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…181 However, the decentralized AD provided the highest environmental benefit (−238.4 kg CO 2 equiv/tonne) when biogas was used as a cooking fuel as compared to centralized AD and biogas used as a transportation fuel. 182 Similarly, AD has the least environmental impacts as compared to composting, incineration, and landfill, while in-vessel composting was reported to be the least sustainable. 183 A comparative study among AD, thermal treatment (incineration), and coprocessing with municipal wastewater and landfilling also confirmed that the environmental performance of thermal treatment was the best for most of the impact categories (climate change, acidification, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and fossil depletion).…”

Section: ■ Environmental Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Challenges and Choices for Food Waste Valorization: Environmental and Economic Impacts

et al. 2023

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Valorization of food waste (FW) is instrumental for reducing the environmental and economic burden of FW and transitioning to a circular economy. The FW valorization process has widely been studied to produce various end-use products and summarize them; however, their economic, environmental, and social aspects are limited. This study synthesizes some of the valorization methods used for FW management and produces value-added products for various applications, and also discusses the technological advances and their environmental, economic, and social aspects. Globally, 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food is lost or wasted each year, during which about 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas is emitted. The environmental (−347 to 2969 kg CO2 equiv/tonne FW) and economic (−100 to $138/tonne FW) impacts of FW depend on the multiple parameters of food chains and waste management systems. Although enormous efforts are underway to reduce FW as well as valorize unavoidable FW to reduce environmental and economic loss, it seems the transdisciplinary approach/initiative would be essential to minimize FW as well as abate the environmental impacts of FW. A joint effort from stakeholders is the key to reducing FW and the efficient and effective valorization of FW to improve its sustainability. However, any initiative in reducing food waste should consider a broader sustainability check to avoid risks to investment and the environment.

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Section: ■ Environmental Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on the Challenges and Choices for Food Waste Valorization: Environmental and Economic Impacts

et al. 2023

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“…The authors of [63] highlighted that their results largely varied due to the influence of context-specific factors such as urban density (see also Section 3.2.1), the energy sources of the electricity grid, and the potential for local digestate use. Finally, the authors of [74] conducted LCA while addressing not only AD configurations, but also various end uses for each configuration assessed. For the case of Singapore, they found that all AD scenarios performed better than incineration.…”

Section: Life Cycle Analyses Of Environmental Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…As described above, spatial analysis and LCA of environmental performance are valuable methodological tools to support AD planning. However, planning decisions such as the selection of suitable configurations also require more overarching decision support tools and frameworks (DSTs) [74]. DSTs are often based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), which aims to address all relevant AD implementation aspects (see Section 3.2) while considering the three sustainability pillars and context-specific characteristics.…”

Section: Decision-support Tools and Framework (Dsts)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential Contribution of Decentralized Anaerobic Digestion towards Urban Biowaste Recovery Systems: A Scoping Review

2021

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The potential contribution of decentralized approaches in implementing biowaste recovery systems has attracted interest in urban policy making and scientific research. Although the scientific literature on the topic is rapidly increasing, it is still limited and scattered. A comprehensive overview of current scientific knowledge is thus needed to support future research on decentralized options for biowaste recovery systems. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a mature biowaste treatment technology that recovers energy and nutrients, and can close urban resource loops. Through a scoping literature review, this paper investigated decentralized AD and its potential contribution in implementing urban biowaste recovery systems. We identified opportunities and challenges for planning of decentralized AD, and concluded that these mainly concern: (a) digestate management; (b) the potential for local circularity with product valorization in outlets such as urban agriculture; and (c) the development and application of decision support tools. The findings highlighted the need to enhance scientific evidence on the impact of decentralized AD in different urban contexts. Results from published studies were highly context-specific, making it difficult to draw general conclusions. This study can support the transition to integrated planning of AD and wider urban biowaste recovery systems. Such planning must include a comprehensive analysis of configuration approaches.

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“…Process and systems engineering methodologies have been widely used in the field of environmental management to conduct systematic modeling and support decision-making over trade-offs. Applications reported include economic and environmental trade-offs in energy systems, − process optimization of waste processing technologies, − conversion of biomass to chemicals, design and improvement in food-energy-water nexus and circular economy, − etc. Specifically for the organic waste management problem, supply chain (SC) network optimization has been used to describe and capture material transformation, logistical issues, and related economic and environmental aspects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Conflicting Economic and Environmental Metrics in Livestock Manure Management

et al. 2022

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Dairy farming is a multibillion USD industry that provides essential food products. At the same time, the millions of animals that this industry oversees generate a massive environmental footprint (affecting air, land, and water quality). Specifically, livestock manure is a carbon- and nutrient-rich waste stream that is routinely used as fertilizer. This practice enables nutrient recycling but also leads to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to nutrient pollution of soils and waterbodies. Mitigating these environmental impacts requires investment in manure processing technologies and identifying and prioritizing investment strategies requires understanding inherent conflicts (trade-offs) and synergies that exist between economic and environmental impacts. In this work, we present a conflict analysis and resolution framework that integrates techno-economic analysis (TEA), life cycle assessment (LCA), and supply chain (SC) optimization. We use this framework to investigate deployment scenarios of manure processing pathways in the Upper Yahara watershed region of Wisconsin. We evaluate LCA (GHG emissions, ammonia emissions, fossil energy use, and nutrient pollution) and TEA metrics (cost and revenue) for different pathways that include manure collection, storage, application, and processing steps. The LCA and TEA metrics are embedded within a SC optimization model that makes decisions on technology selection and geographical placement and on product transport in the study area. A conflict resolution procedure is used to explore trade-offs associated with these decisions and to identify optimal compromise solutions that best balance trade-offs. Our results reveal that there are nonobvious conflicts and synergies between the explored metrics that can be exploited to mitigate multiple impacts simultaneously. We also find that the deployment of a diverse set of technologies is needed to fully resolve conflicts. The impact of emerging technologies (ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis) and government incentives is also discussed.

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Life cycle assessment of food waste to energy and resources: Centralized and decentralized anaerobic digestion with different downstream biogas utilization

Cited by 100 publications

References 88 publications

A Review on the Challenges and Choices for Food Waste Valorization: Environmental and Economic Impacts

A Review on the Challenges and Choices for Food Waste Valorization: Environmental and Economic Impacts

The Potential Contribution of Decentralized Anaerobic Digestion towards Urban Biowaste Recovery Systems: A Scoping Review

Managing Conflicting Economic and Environmental Metrics in Livestock Manure Management

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