2017

Final Report
RECYCLING SYSTEMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

NAME : MEEGODA M.K.D.C.S

STUDENT NUMBER: 26163529
1. Why is not bio energy promoted so much in Japan? Please write your opinion,
comparing EU countries.
Bioenergy is one of the main solutions on shorter and medium term to mitigate greenhouse gasses
and use as a substitute for fossil fuel. The bioenergy sector is quite complex as there are many
forms of biomass resources and numerous conversion technologies. Bioenergy comes in different
forms. It could be electricity, heating, biofuels combined heating and electrical systems. Europe
has invested a huge amount of money on developing technologies to harvest more and more energy
from biomass. There are huge amounts of activities and programs related to developing and
stimulating bioenergy. Basically, every country in Europe has included bio energy in its future
climate policies and future energy plans. Also, they have agricultural policies to cultivate more
and more energy crops and use excess harvest in producing bioenergy. Also, they have regulations
made regulations on using food waste and sludge as biomass in producing bioenergy. By making
policies Europe has made a huge number of sources in producing biomass. And they are using
these sources in large scale facilities. Using larger scale facilities, they have been able to
economically generate bioenergy. In Europe, they have made a huge market for the bioenergy and
they have made them cheaper than conventional systems. They have produce vehicles and public
transport systems which will work using biodiesel as the energy source. Therefore, the investors
are tending to invest on bioenergy field.

Though Japan is a highly technically advanced country still they are far behind than Europe in
terms of utilizing bioenergy. The investors in Japan are not much interested in investing in
bioenergy projects. The reasons could be categorized into 3 main categories technology, policies,
and interest of the people or the market for bioenergy.

Currently, Japan lack of strong policies like Europe does. The Japans energy policy mainly relied
on nuclear power before the Fukushima incident in 2011. Their technologies were mainly focused
on relying nuclear-powered electricity. For example, vehicles, they developed electric vehicles and
hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. They did not invest in vehicles which will work with
biofuels like in Europe. Because Japan's systems were more economical.

Current policy on MSW in Japan is to incinerate due to the limited habitable land. There are more
than 1000 incineration facilities around Japan. These systems have well established for decades
and the people have been used to those systems. It is very hard to change prevailing and go for the
new system. It would be costly in the economic wise.

Next important factor is the market for the bio energy products. Comparing with Europe the
demand for biodiesel is very less in Japan. Therefore, it is very hard to make a market for
bioenergy. Japan has limited habitable land and limited cultivatable land. Therefore, they cant
have more land to cultivate energy crops. Also, their agricultural residue is small compared to the
European countries. Thus, Japan cant make large bioenergy facilities as in Europe. Due to the
scale, it is not economical. Lack of engineering companies who deal with bio energy systems is
another major issue for the popularity.
2. Please summarize the key points for the success of biomass utilization systems,
considering the following aspects.

A. Body of commercialization

Generally, there are 3 parties involved in biomass utilization systems they are waste
generators, treatment companies, and local governments. For a successful biomass
utilization systems, it is better that the waste treatment company have a contract with the
waste generators such as farmers, supermarkets. So, that they can have a continuous supply
of waste necessary for the operation and have a fixed price for the quantity they provide.
Then have agreements with the governmental bodies (power companies, gas companies
etc.) or buyers (farmers,) to sell the product. Then commercialization body could secure
its incoming sources as well as it could fix its profits.

B. Objective and motivation

In a biomass utilization systems, the objectives and motivations will be different per the
market available. Per the market available to purchase, the products of biomass utilization
the objectives should be changed. For example, if the biomass system is closer to
municipality area then the objective of the biomass system should be waste reduction or
electricity generation or heat generation. If the systems are closer to farms. The objective
might be different. In this case, the objectives would be composting or produce animal food
for feeding animals. The key point of success that choose the correct biomass utilization
technology which will suit the local demands. Also, to suit the local sources. This will
reduce the transportation cost.

C. Input and output

Inputs and outputs of the biomass utilization is a very important factor for the success.
When getting the inputs, the quality of the inputs should be maintained. And the method
of bio utilization system should be matched with the incoming quality of the waste.
(pH,C:N ,water content etc.).The incoming quantity should be matched. The outputs could
be categorized as the main product and by products. The quality should be maintained
constantly and it should not varied with time. For example, if the main product is biogas
then the CH4 concentration should be maintained. It is better to have agreements between
buyers for the products of bio utilization plants. So that they will get a fixed income. The
by products of the main product could be used as a source for another process. For example,
in a biogas system, the residue could be used to produce compost. This product will
generate an additional income for the owning company.
3. Plese make a biomass utilization system in your home town as a case study, considering
the above point for success.Especially, consider specific regional conditions in your home
town.

Kandy municipality is the second largest city of Sri Lanka with an area of 28.5km2 and a
population of 135 000.The total generation of solid waste is approximately 100 ton/day. The
composition of solid waste in Kandy area is
shown in figure 1. As shown in the figure most
of the solid waste generated in KMC (80%)
contains biodegradable organic waste where a
major portion is food waste where the water
content is very high. There are no major
industries in the KMC area. Therefore, the
KMC is not getting Industrial waste. Mostly the
Figure 1: Composition of solid waste at house hold in waste is coming from households and
Kandy Municipality Council (KMC)( Abeynayaka ,2007)
commercial institutes such as hotels.
Sri Lanka has a high demand for electricity and mostly they rely on hydro and coal power plants.
If a bio utilization system which would generate electricity from biogas, the municipality could
earn a huge profit by selling electricity to the national grid, by the time they could also reduce the
amount of waste going into the landfill. In Sri Lanka, all the utility facilities are done by the
governmental bodies. First, the KMC could sign a contact the Ceylon electricity board to buy the
electricity from the biogas plant.
Around Kandy area, there are small scale farms which grow vegetables and fruits. The residue
from the biogas generation could be processed as compost and could be sold as fertilizers. The
KMC could come up with agreements with fertilizer company to purchase the compost. Those
companies could sell the fertilizers for the farmers around Kandy. The schematic diagram of the
proposed bio utilization plant for Kandy municipality is shown in figure2.
Currently, the waste collection is done by the municipality as mixed waste. If they could collect
waste separately as biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, then the sorting would be easy

Fig2. Proposed bio utilization system for KMC