Valorisation of agricultural residues via anaerobic digestion: from biogas to carboxylates

Approximately one third of the greenhouse gas emission is associated to agriculture, from fertilizer manufacture, improper agricultural waste handling to food storage and packaging. Nonproper treatment of agricultural waste is assumed to be a major factor. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is considered to be an excellent technology for agricultural waste stabilization/treatment and renewable energy carrier production. However, the overall economic value of the produced methane is rather low, especially compared to the potential value of the waste streams. In this project, various agricultural waste products and different strategies will be investigated to enable a shift in the treatment process from AD to anaerobic fermentation, which will lead to the production of carboxylates with a higher economic value.