Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921

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Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Review

A techno-economic evaluation of anaerobic biogas producing systems in T

developing countries
Hervan Marion Morgan Jr.a, Wei Xiea, Jianghui Lianga, Hanping Maoa, Hanwu Leib, Roger Ruanc,
⁎
Quan Bua,
a
School of Agricultural Equipment Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province 212013, PR China
b
Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University, Richland, WA 99354-1671, USA
c
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Biogas production has been the focus of many individuals in the developing world; there have been several
Biomass investigations that focus on improving the production process and product quality. In the developing world the
Renewable energy lack of advanced technology and capital has hindered the development of energy production. Renewable energy
Biogas has the potential to improve the standard of living for most of the 196 countries which are classified as de-
Developing economies
veloping economies. One of the easiest renewable energy compounds that can be produced is biogas (bio-me-
Anaerobic digestion
thane). Biogas can be produced from almost any source of biomass through the anaerobic respiration of micro-
organisms. Low budget energy systems are reviewed in this article along with various feedstock sources. Adapted
gas purification and storage systems are also reviewed, along with the possible economic, social, health and
environmental benefits of its implementation.

1. Introduction
With the technological advancement of the world increasing at an
exponential rate, the global demand for energy continues to increase.
The increase in energy consumption has caused many environmental
issues that have affected the population of the world (Mohan et al.,
2006; Sapkota and Bastola, 2017). The majority of the countries that
contribute to environmental pollution are those that have developed
economies or are highly industrialized. According to the International
Energy Agency, a large portion of the air pollution on the planet is
derived from the production and consumption of coal or fossil fuel for
the production of energy (IEA, 2016b). One of the most abundant
sources of air and environmental pollution is the presence of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. Statistical data provided by the Interna-
tional Energy Agency suggested that developed economies have greater
per-capita CO2 production than developing economies (IEA, 2016a).
Nations like Qatar and Kuwait which has the highest per-capita CO2
emissions at 35.73 and 22.94 tons respectively compared to developing
economies which has the lowest per-capita CO2 emission such as DR
Congo and Ethiopia with 0.06 and 0.09 tons respectively (IEA, 2016a);
this is a result of the technological input and standard of living in the
respective economies (Aune et al., 2016; Navamuel et al., 2017). To
rectify this problem, governments of the industrialized world have
agreed to implement policies that would gradually reduce their carbon
emissions (Jarke and Perino, 2017). However in recent years a carbon
credit system has been implemented to offset the carbon footprint of
large corporations or developed countries (Ball, 2007; Hawn, 2006).
The purchase of carbon credits allows the buyer to still emit a large
quantity of CO2 but they don’t receive repercussion because their
carbon footprint is neutralized. There are many individuals who find
this very controversial because it is not truly addressing the problem of
pollutant reduction but is only easing the conscience of the buyer
(Barua et al., 2014). From the perspective of individuals living in de-
veloping economies that hardly have limited access to energy, they may
see it as something negative because the buyer still maintains an ex-
tremely high standard of living while expecting them to be concerned
for the environment.
Another way the industrialized world is combating their pollutant
contribution is by developing new technologies that utilize renewable
sources of energy. Currently, when renewable energy is considered,
hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal sources are discussed; however
these alternative sources are limited to electric energy production (Trop
and Goricanec, 2016). In addition, they require technical expertise and
their implementation can be quite expensive. In many developed
countries these renewable sources of energy have been implemented
because their economies are large enough to allow investment. There

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: qbu@ujs.edu.cn (Q. Bu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.12.013
Received 27 October 2017; Received in revised form 3 December 2017; Accepted 6 December 2017
Available online 08 December 2017
0960-8524/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H.M. Morgan et al.
are more than 57,000 dams worldwide and most of these are found in
industrialized countries (IEA, 2017), while countries like China and the
United States have made heavy investments in factories for the pro-
duction of solar panels and wind turbines. Globally solar energy pro-
duction capacity is about 227GW (WEC, 2017a) and wind powered
energy is about 432GW (WEC, 2017b). In order to optimize the use of
these advanced sources of energy smart grid technology has been in-
vestigated. However the use of sophisticated technologies such as these
mentioned are not readily applicable in the developing world. Taking
this into consideration, biomass is one of the leading sources of re-
newable material that can be used to produce gas or liquid energy
products; the use of biomass does not require expensive equipment and
the conversion processes can be simplified in order to reduce produc-
tion cost (Ahmed and Kazda, 2017). There are many different sources of
biomass materials; those that are primarily considered for fuel pro-
duction are obtained from industrial or agricultural waste. The main
objective of biomass conversion is to degrade biomass through various
techniques to produce valued chemicals (Borja and Rincón, 2017).
Many scientific investigations have focused on the conversion of bio-
mass into valued chemicals; there are two main pathways that are used
to convert biomass into valued compounds. These pathways are the
biological pathway and the thermo-chemical pathway (Borja and
Rincón, 2017; Bridgwater, 2012; Marcilla et al., 2013). The biological
pathway uses microorganisms and enzymes to breakdown complex bio-
molecules into smaller fragments that have value, while the thermo-
chemical pathway uses extreme heat and pressure to break bio-mole-
cules into smaller fractions that have value. Some of the most popular
biological processes are respiration, anaerobic respiration, fermenta-
tion, and acetification, while common thermo-chemical processes are
combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis (Lu et al., 2013).
In order for these technologies to be implemented in the developing
world, they must be inexpensive and require a limited amount of
technological expertise. Third world economies are often rich with
natural resources; however they are unable to take advantage of their
resources due to a lack of scientific expertise and education. The im-
proper utilization and in some cases external exploitation of these
countries resources have led to increasing poverty levels. Out of the 195
countries of the world most of them are considered to be developing
economies where the average growth index is less than 1.0 (Mlachila
et al., 2014; UN, WESP, 2014), most of them do not have the necessary
technological infrastructure in place to accommodate modern tech-
nology. It is also important to consider that majority of these countries
have agriculture based economies, the presence of an agricultural in-
dustry allow them to have natural resources but it is improperly uti-
lized. If this is taken into consideration, it can be argued that the valued
compound which emerging economies should invest in should be one
that requires limited technological input. With this in mind it can be
considered that a combination for the use of both pathways would be
beneficial for the development of these economies. However, when the
industrial application of these technologies are considered, and the
necessary equipment; they are very expensive. Therefore, it can be
understood that there must be a simplification of the technology so that
the individuals from these nations are able to obtain high quality en-
ergy at a low price point. Methane gas is one of the simplest energy
compounds that can be made with minimum technological input. This
is the most suitable compound to be produced in these countries be-
cause it has a wide variety of uses. Over the years there have been
several investigations that has focused on the production of methane/
bio-gas to produce heat, electricity, and cooking energy (Ahmed and
Kazda, 2017; Čater et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2016; Hagos et al., 2017;
Huang et al., 2017b; Jiang et al., 2014; Kougias et al., 2017; Wyman
et al., 2017a,b; Zhang et al., 2013). Recently, some individuals have
been focusing on converting bio-gas into transportation fuel (Rotunno
et al., 2017). Transportation is also one of main contributors to global
warming (Ren et al., 2013), with the introduction of more fuel efficient
vehicles or vehicles that use green fuels, there can be a significant
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
reduction on the amount of contaminants in the atmosphere.
The adaptation and simplification of modern technologies can be
beneficial for the population of developing economies, which would
reduce their contributions to environmental pollution since they cannot
afford expensive equipment. The mortality rate of infants have gradu-
ally been declining globally from 8.9 million in 1990 to 4.5 million in
2015 (WHO, 2017a), thanks to modern medicine; this in turn causes an
increase in the population of these countries. With a population in-
crease the energy consumption of the developing world are among the
fastest growing (Keho, 2016). This is of great concern because the en-
ergy consumption of the 5.9 billion people of the developing world
should not be identical to those that live in larger economies. This
would not be sustainable for the planets resources, rather than follow
the same model that first world economies have gone through the au-
thors believe that a greener path would be more beneficial and eco-
friendly. However there is a significant disadvantage when it comes to
the investment in research between the developed and developing
world; hence the sophisticated technologies that are available for the
production of renewable energy should be simplified and the price
should be reduced so that those individuals living in the developing
world can improve their standard of living but it should be done in a
green manner unlike those of the developed world who over consume
energy resources. The aim of this investigation is to review the various
biomass conversion techniques. The production of biogas through
anaerobic digestion will be analyzed and how complex systems of in-
dustrialized countries can be simplified so that the local communities of
developing nations can have access to an abundant source of renewable
green energy.
2. Biomass resources
Biomass is any form of organic matter that can be found on earth,
one property that is common for all of its forms is that it is or had to be
a living organism in one point of its existence (Morgan Jr et al., 2017).
There are many different sources of biomass material, however one of
the most abundant sources that exist is lignocellulosic biomass. This
source of material is one of the fundamental pillars that started civili-
zation. From ancient times when human beings were hunters and
gatherers to the modern day where there is access to sophisticated
technologies. One thing that remains constant is humans’ dependence
of lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulosic biomass is composed of pri-
marily three major components which are cellulose, lignin, and hemi-
cellulose (Mohan et al., 2006). Cellulose and hemicellulose are both
polysaccharides. Cellulose is a linear polysaccharide of Beta-D-gluco-
pyranose units (Jenkins et al., 1998). Hemicellulose is a mixture of
various polymerized five- and six-carbon monosaccharides such as
glucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, arabinose, methylglucuronic acid,
and galacturonic acid (Jenkins et al., 1998; Mohan et al., 2006). Lignin
is an amorphous polymer with no exact structure and consists of an
irregular array of variously bonded phenylpropane units (Mohan et al.,
2006). Cellulose is generally the largest fraction, representing ap-
proximately 40 wt% to 50 wt% of the biomass, lignin is the second
largest fraction that is approximately 16 wt% to 33 wt% depending on
the feedstock source, and the hemicellulose portion occupies a majority
of the remaining mass. Some other compounds present include organic
extractives and inorganic compounds (McKendry, 2002).
Developing economies are typically rich with this type of biomass,
however according to several investigations; the use of these resources
by individuals in these countries can have a negative environmental
impact due to a lack of education on how to sustainably harvest the
material. (Merzic et al., 2017) explained that proper education on the
sustainable utilization of biomass resources is the first step that should
be taken for developing countries that are beginning to utilize their
biomass resources for energy production. In the developing world bio-
resources are primarily used for cooking, lighting and heating energy
(Surendra et al., 2014). Firewood for cooking is used by millions of
H.M. Morgan et al.
people daily, (Katuwal and Bohara, 2009) estimated that the average
house hold uses about 3 metric tons (6600lbs) of firewood and 576 kg
(1270lbs) of dung annually subsequently releasing 4.5 metric tons of
CO2 emission into the atmosphere. (Osei, 1993) explained that the
consumption of firewood as a source of fuel is responsible for about
54% of the deforestation in developing countries. Deforestation is then
considered one of the main contributing factors for soil erosion and a
decrease in soil fertility (Gautam et al., 2009). Motasemi and Afzal
(2013) explained that biomass used for energy production is normally
obtained from three distinct sources which are grouped into virgin re-
sources, residues, and municipal solid waste. Virgin resources were
further subdivided into forest resources and oil crops. Motasemi and
Afzal (2013) explained that forest resources would be any type of wood
like pine beetle wood, or new types of wood and forest biomass, such as
willow, hybrid poplar, balsam poplar, or aspen, etc. They also explained
that oil crops are crops that are actually grown for oil or food; these
may include wheat barley, tame hay, corn, canola, palm oil, soybean,
flax, oat, straw, pasture grasses, and others. Residues, however was
subdivided into three sources, wood residues, agricultural residues and
wastes, and livestock residues. Residue is the waste material from other
production processes; wood residues may include bark, branches, left-
over treetop, leaves from harvest and thinning operations or left over
from felling, sawdust, and shavings from pulp mills and saw mills. They
explained that agricultural residues and wastes were the residual frac-
tion of primary crops, such as wheat, barley, tame hay, oat, etc., and
waste oil/fat produced from harvested plant material. The third sub-
group of residual wastes is livestock residues. Motasemi and Afzal
(2013) pointed out that these may include a readily available source of
waste biomass like livestock excrement and livestock carcass. Municipal
solid waste was the final group that they summarized as one of the
sources of biomass material needed to maintain the system. It was
subdivided into two subgroups, residential and non-residential.
Motasemi and Afzal (2013) reported that sources of residential solid
waste may include newsprint, cardboard and boxboard, mixed paper,
glass, ferrous metals, copper and aluminum, mixed metals, white goods,
electronics, plastics, tires, construction, renovation and demolition,
organics, etc. However, in their description of non-residential solid
waste they were not able to list any examples.
Based in published statistical data (Statista, 2017a,b,c,d), it can be
concluded that waste residues is the most suitable for the production of
renewable energy. In Fig. 1, the global production of valued crops is
presented; in the production of sugar, rice, grain/wheat and corn, a
large proportion of the products at the end of upgrading of the raw
material are agricultural residues. These residues in some cases are
already being used for the production of heat and electricity in modern
factories to offset the cost of power consumption (Uris et al., 2017);
however in the developing world the same agricultural residues are
being inefficiently utilized. In most cases they are only used for direct
household combustion or as organic fertilizer. Waste residues are the
most suitable because it would not contribute to environmental de-
gradation if virgin resources were to be used. It would also not be
economically efficient if virgin crops were planted specifically for en-
ergy production when food availability is a major concern for these
populations (Tomei and Helliwell, 2016), the use of cash crops for
primarily energy production would contribute to the food verses fuel
debate. With the increasing demand for energy in the developing world,
this will be a problem but many individuals have argued that food is of
primary concern and then energy should be second, food security is
necessary for the individual in these areas to be able to invest in energy
production. Municipal solid waste is produced in great quantities in
urban areas of the developing world (Khatib, 2011), annually about 1.3
million tons of municipal waste is produced (Srivastava et al., 2015),
however the use of this resource might be difficult because in many
cases there are no reliable system in place for waste collection and
sorting, if it is collected all of the waste is gathered and dumped into the
same area and in other cases where it is not collected many individuals
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
still rely on unsophisticated methods, such as “trash can burning”, to
get rid of their municipal waste.
3. Introduction to biomass conversion techniques
The conversion of biomass into valued products is an ancient
technology; throughout the development of civilization a fundamental
science that has propelled the advancement of mankind is the natural
sciences that include biology and chemistry. The use of ever improving
technologies has allowed mankind to create new products from simple
compounds, such as beer and wine, to complex chemicals such as
transportation oil and lubricants. As mentioned previously, conversion
technologies based on these sciences can be divided into two groups,
biological conversion and thermo-chemical conversion. In most in-
dustries the application of both techniques has proven to be optimal for
the production of valued products. A biological process may include
respiration, digestion, fermentation, anaerobic-respiration, acetifica-
tion, and others. It is necessary to understand that the chemical inter-
actions that occur during the decomposition of biomass are facilitated
with the use of biological agents that are normally microorganisms or
enzymes (Borja and Rincón, 2017; Noll et al., 2016). Nature has de-
veloped perfect micro machines that are able to take advantage of
biomass material and create compounds that are essential to the sur-
vival of biological organisms. The processes mentioned are specific to
certain conditions and each reaction can also be performed by agents
that have unique properties. However, these reactions are very delicate
because they can only occur within very specific parameters. Biological
conversion normally occurs at atmospheric pressure and temperatures
between 25 °C and 40 °C. The pH value is another factor that should be
considered when dealing with biological conversion techniques. This is
important because a pH imbalance can cause denaturing of the enzymes
responsible for decomposition of organic molecules (McKendry, 2002).
Taking these factors into consideration the research and investment
into the biological conversion of biomass to valued products is far less
than its counterpart. The United Nations conducted a report which said
that developing countries have invested a combined $156 billion dol-
lars on renewable energy projects while developed nations have in-
vested $130 billion dollars (Insider, 2017; UNEnvironment et al.,
2017); however most of these investments are not towards biological
conversion techniques. This is because of the fragility of these pro-
cesses, for example in the food and beverage industry, special condi-
tions are necessary for the production of products such as beer, wine,
milk, cheese, etc. The initial investment into a small factory is very high,
and when it comes to ethanol production or bio-methane production,
there is a need for industrial scale equipment for the investment to be
profitable. The cost of these equipment can be in the thousands of
dollars (Smith et al., 2014).
In contrast, there is the thermo-chemical conversion that uses heat
and pressure to break complex biomolecules into simpler compounds.
Some of the most common thermo-chemical techniques are torrefac-
tion, gasification, pyrolysis, and combustion. These processes occur at
much faster rates compared to their biological counterparts because
they can occur between a wide range of operating parameters. The
thermal degradation of biomass occurs between a wide temperature
range from 150 °C to 600 °C (Mohan et al., 2006). As described by
previous authors (Zhang et al., 2016), there are three stages in the
thermal degradation of biomass, the first stage occurs within the tem-
perature range of 20 °C to 150 °C, which is particular to moisture eva-
poration. Almost all of the water trapped inside the biomass feedstock is
removed in this stage. Also, 150 °C is typically where torrefaction be-
gins, which is a method of pretreatment for biomass that eventually
undergo pyrolysis (Chen et al., 2017; Yue et al., 2017). The second step
ranges from 250 °C to 500 °C, where pyrolysis occurs by devolatiliza-
tion; most organic compounds within the feedstock sample are de-
composed in this temperature range. The third and final stage of
thermal degradation, are temperatures above 500 °C where continuous
H.M. Morgan et al.
Fig. 1. Global production of valued cash crops (million metric tons) and the average cost of production per acre and their primary and secondary use (Statista, 2017a,b,c,d; USDA, 2017).
devolatilization and charring occurs, resulting in the third product that
is bio-char. Unlike biological conversion techniques, the pH does not
play a huge role in the efficiency of the operation. Majority of the re-
search on biomass sources for the production of renewable energy have
been invested in the thermo chemical conversion techniques. One of
these technologies that have received heavy investment are gasification
plants, the installation price point for these plants however can be quite
expensive. The average price for a small gasification unit producing
electricity was suggested to be 1500 US$/kW in 2007 (Abe et al., 2007)
however a more recent summary of the gasification price was suggested
to be about 1592 US$/kW (Suramaythangkoor and Gheewala, 2010);
this technology is far out of the reach for individuals or startups in the
developing world where a large part of the populations live in rural
areas and their daily income is less that 1US$ (UN, WESP, 2014).
However, one important factor that must be considered during thermo-
chemical conversion is the pretreatment of the biomass feedstock. (Liu
et al., 2017) investigated the pretreatment of biomass for its thermo-
chemical conversion. In their research they were able to group pre-
treatment of biomass into four categories: (1) mechanical (e.g., com-
minution and mechanical sieving); (2) thermal (e.g., torrefaction, steam
explosion/liquid hot water pre-treatment, and ultrasound/microwave
irradiation); (3) chemical (e.g., treatment with acids, bases, and ionic
liquids); and (4) biological (e.g., fungal, microbial consortium, and
enzymatic). The cost price for these processes vary depending on the
equipment needed, in most cases specialized equipment is needed for
the preparation of the biomass sample before its decomposition. Ther-
mochemical decomposition is man-made unlike biological decomposi-
tion that occurs naturally. It can be suggested that from a functional
point of view that there are similarities between the two. For better
comprehension of biomass decomposition the authors were able to
summarize the operations and properties in Fig. 2.
4. Techno-economic evaluation of bio-gas production techniques
Bio-gas/ bio-methane is one of the simplest energy compounds that
can be produced during biomass conversion. It is produced through the
biological conversion pathway with the use of microorganisms to break
down the nutritional content in biomass through anaerobic respiration.
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
Biological decomposition techniques are a results of millions of years of
trial and error through evolution in the pursuit of finding a solution to
the problem, there are two key processes that are temperature depen-
dent in the process which are mesophilic and thermophilic (Tawfik
et al., 2013). Mesophilic organisms are those that function in moderate
temperature from 20 °C to 45 °C, and thermophilic organisms are those
that thrive at relatively high temperatures between 41 °C and 122 °C.
(Khanal, 2011) explained in his book that biomass is converted into
biogas through a series of metabolic processes by various microorgan-
isms that fit into the two groups mentioned. The four processes that
comprise biomass transformation are hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acet-
ogenesis and methanogenesis. The first step of hydrolysis which is also
known as liquefaction, complex organic compounds such as lipids,
proteins and polysaccharides are converted into smaller monomers such
as amino acids, long chain fatty acids, sugars and glycerol. Hydrolytic
fermentative bacteria are responsible for this process. These products
are then fermented into a mixture of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, alcohol
and low molecular weight volatile fatty acids (VFAs) during the process
of acidogenisis. Acidogenic bacteria is responsible for this step. The
next step is acetogenesis; in this step alcohols and VFAs are anaerobi-
cally oxidized into acetate, H2 and CO2 using hydrogen producing
acetogenic bacteria. In some cases acetate can also be formed from H2
and CO2 by hydrogen-oxidizing acetogenic bacteria known as homo-
acetogens. The process of homoacetogenesis has not been widely ex-
plored (Khanal, 2011). In the final stage of methanogenesis, H2 and CO2
are transformed into a mixture of CH4 and CO2 with the use of aceto-
trophic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The acetotrophic metha-
nogens utilize acetate as a substrate in a process called acetotrophic
methanogenisis while hydrogenotrophic methanogens reduce CO2 by
using H2 an electron donor in a process called hrdrogenotrophic me-
thanogenesis. Seventy percent (70%) of the total CH4 produced is ori-
ginated from decarboxylation of acetate while the remaining CH4 is
mostly produced from CO2 reduction (Gerardi, 2003; Lawrence and
McCarty, 1969; Zieminski and Frac, 2012). Small amounts of CH4 are
also produced from propionic and butyric acids, and from other organic
substrates by methanogens (Woodard, 2001). It is also important to
understand that for high solid feedstocks, hydrolysis is the limiting step
while for highly soluble feedstocks, methanogenesis is the rate limiting
H.M. Morgan et al.
Fig. 2. Similarities between biological and thermochemical pathways, their relationship to oxygen consumption, word formulas and relative costs.
step. The anaerobic processes divert a small amount of energy (about
14%) of the available energy for microbial growth; 10% are for fer-
mentative bacteria and 4% are for methanogens; while most of the
energy (about 86%) is stored in the end products, CH4 (Schink, 1997;
Westermann, 1996).
Bio-digestion systems are primarily composed of three parts that
have the functions of bio-digestion, gas capture, and gas filter.
Technologically advanced countries often develop systems that are very
expensive, which makes them out of reach for individuals in developing
nations. If communities in developing nations want to become energy
independent they must be able to innovate their own systems based on
the technology, but it must be simple enough that the cost of production
is reasonable. According to statistical data provided by World bank and
FAO, they explained that rural areas of developing nations are those
that have the minimal household income and least opportunities
available to improve their standard of living (Covarrubias and Zezza,
2009; Zezza et al., 2007). It is impossible for a person to construct a bio-
digester by themselves. In these countries there have been the im-
plementation of social programs that help to subsidize the upfront cost
of construction of a digestion tank. In countries like China and India,
government programs have aided in the construction of new household
bio-digesters which is responsible for the construction of about 27
million and 4 million new digesters in the respective countries (Bond
and Templeton, 2011). The availability of money and the aid in con-
struction is believed to have an effect on poverty reduction simply
because energy is available to the household and they are able to divert
their time into personal and economic development. Developed farms
in industrialized countries normally collaborate with companies that
manufacture specialized equipment that produce bio-gas. A bio-
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
digestion system is typically composed of a mixing chamber where the
innoculum and the feedstock are mixed together and heated to 40 °C.
This step is important because it is a form of pretreatment that reduces
the biomass particle size and uniformly distributes the microorganisms
so the degradation time can be reduced. The mixing of the biomass
feedstock with the innoculum that contains the microorganisms can be
classified into the two groups of pretreatment, mechanical and biolo-
gical pretreatment. The mixing process aids in particle size reduction
which is a form of mechanical pretreatment, as discussed previously the
cost price for this process is relatively high (Rodriguez et al., 2017); the
mixing with the digestate that has microorganisms is classified as bio-
logical pretreatment. The even distribution of the micro-organisms
before introduction into the digestion tank can help to improve popu-
lation growth, also the proper mixing initialize the processes of biolo-
gical decomposition (Sindhu et al., 2016). The cost of this process is
generally relative to the micro-organism culture that is being employed.
Based on investigations conducted by Augelletti et al. (2017) and
Kougias et al. (2017) they mentioned that 40 °C is the optimum tem-
perature for microorganism activity. In the biological conversion of
biomass into valued products, each process is typically conducted by a
single organism. In the food and beverage industry for the production of
wine, beer, cheese etc. specific micro-culture has to be grown for the
conversion of the raw material into the valued products. The cost for
culture preparation can be quite expensive, and cost hundreds to
thousands of dollars depending on the specific strain (MTCC, 2017;
NCPPB, 2017). However in the developing world, people have found
substitutes for the production of methane gas with the use of free
sources of micro-organisms. (Huang et al., 2017a) conducted in-
vestigations on different types of microorganisms that were able to
H.M. Morgan et al.
Fig. 3a. Fixed dome (Chinese type) digester. Adopted from Gunnerson et al. (1986).
anaerobically respire biomass and produce biogas. They explained that
these microorganisms are cultured for specificity towards the conver-
sion they are designed for. The cost for culturing these organisms can be
very expensive, thus only energy producers that have enough capital
are able to utilize these organisms for optimum performance. When
individuals from the developing world are considered, it is not possible
for them to purchase these designer microorganisms, hence they must
make do with what is available to them. One source of microorganism
that is commonly used to prime anaerobic digesters in developing
countries comes from cow or pig manure. Some of the bacteria groups
that are common to these sources are Coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli,
salmonella, ptostreptococcus, Eubacterium, Clostridium, and others that
are predominantly anaerobic microorganisms (Rehman et al., 2017).
The biogas production potential for cow and pig manure are
0.2–0.3 Nm3/kg wet weight and 0.25–0.5 Nm3/kg wet weight respec-
tively (Nijaguna, 2006; Steffen et al., 1998). This is why it is necessary
to mix this innoculum with organic matter, its mixing with biomass
feedstock can help increase the biogas production potential which in
turn make the digestion process more sustainable for the end users.
The second and most important part of biogas production is the
actual anaerobic digestion, which is typically done in large industrial
tanks that are equipped with internal temperature controls and stirring
equipment. These tools are necessary for the optimum performance of a
system because it isolates the external environment and ensures that the
microorganisms function within their temperature range. The stirring
equipment helps with the even distribution of the biomass material
inside the digester, which makes sure that the population growth and
distribution of the microorganisms is even throughout the entire vessel.
The cost of these equipment are very high, and therefore for it to be
built in low income communities they must find low budget solutions
for tank construction. Many individuals around the world have been
producing bio-gas, and not all of them are able to purchase expensive
equipment, hence they may have had to invent new cost-effective ideas.
Most low budget bio-digesters that are constructed seem dependent on
the quantity of time of its intended use and also its transportability.
Some of the bio-digesters that have been created in the developing
world have been made from low-density polyethelene (LDPE) plastic
bags, high-density polyethelene (HDPE) plastic containers, rubber
tubes, clay bricks, cement blocks, and other materials. Those that are
made of lighter materials are typically found on very small farms and
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
those made of bricks are for larger farms that cannot afford expensive
equipment. The efficiency and safety of the self-made bio-digesters
cannot compare to the more advance bio-digesters, but there have been
reports of self-made 1000-L bio-digesters that are able to produce 300 L
to400 L of biogas daily (Paustian et al., 2006). Gas collection is another
part of the production process, in a typical bio-digester; the top is made
of an expandable material that is very durable. Biogas that is produced
during anaerobic digestion of the biomass evaporates and gets trapped
inside this chamber. It is equipped with automated pressure controls
that release the gas in a timely fashion so as to avoid over pressuriza-
tion. Individuals who are not able to afford this type of advanced
equipment must come up with ideas that serve the same purpose. Most
of the self-made digesters that were investigated also incorporated a gas
storage chamber in the bio-digester. In some places they have been able
to construct domes made of brick that serve as the gas collection
chamber. With proper construction and sealing of these chambers their
efficiency can be improved, which allows for higher internal pressure
and greater gas collection. The gas produced at this point is already
flammable but the energy value is low. This is because during anaerobic
digestion, other gasses are produced along with the methane gas.
Anaerobic digestion gas is composed of (CO2, CH4, H2S, and siloxanes),
which 60% is methane and 40% is carbon dioxide along with small
traces of other compounds. For the product to be useful in electricity
production, heating, cooking, or transportation it must be enriched
and/or purified. There are currently two technological designs that are
popular for the construction of bio-digesters in developing countries.
These are the Chinese design known as the fixed dome digester
(Fig. 3a); and the Indian floating drum digester (Fig. 3b). The main
feedstock that are used for these bio-digesters are typically human,
animal and household waste and the gas produced is used for cooking
and lighting. These bio-digesters are not very large because the average
volume of a home bio-digester is between 5 and 7 m3 which is capable
of producing 0.5 m3 of biogas per m3 of the digester volume (Akinbami
et al., 2001; Omer and Fadalla, 2003). Out of the two designs the fixed
dome digester is more adaptable because it is normally constructed
with locally available materials, which are bricks, stones or blocks.
However the floating drum design is not easily adapted to different
environments because the drum needed for the gas capture is normally
a steel or hard plastic drum. These are the simplest digesters that are
available, both the Chinese and the Indian designs have similar working
H.M. Morgan et al.
principles. The first step is the addition of the feedstock into the di-
gester through an inlet pipe, in some cases mixing pretreatment as
discussed earlier is done inside a mixing pit. After digestion the diges-
tate (slurry) leaves the tank through an outlet pipe, some digesters can
have compartments depending on the configuration of the system. As
shown in the Figs. 3a and 3b; a one-stage and two-stage bio-digester
configuration is shown. The configuration is dependent on the time the
substrate spends inside the bio-digester, sometimes between 20 and
30 days. There are advantages and disadvantages to both system de-
signs, the advantage of the fixed dome digester is that it is much
cheaper that the floating drum and more adaptable because of the in-
terchangeable construction materials, the disadvantage for this system
is that the gas pressure produced varies because the volume of the gas
collection chamber stays the same while the quantity changes. The
fluctuation of gas pressure is a negative aspect of the fixed dome
system. On the other hand the floating drum’s advantage is that it is
able to maintain a constant gas pressure because the drum is adjustable,
the volume can change to maintain gas pressure. The disadvantage of
this system as mentioned is that it is not as adaptable as the fixed dome;
the materials needed for the floating drum construction are a bit more
expensive than the other. These digesters are very simple designs so the
absence of stirring equipment reduces the efficiency of the system as
compared to industrial bio-digesters. The lack of stirring equipment
also makes solids that sink to the bottom of the digester difficult to
breakdown and eventually be expelled from the system. The constant
addition of undigested solids at the bottom of the tank reduces the di-
gestive capacity and eventually reduces the overall efficiency of the bio-
digester because the relative tank volume becomes smaller. In some
developing nations the construction cost of the fixed dome or the
floating drum bio-digester have been reported to be too high (Preston
and Rodríguez, 2002; Surendra et al., 2014). This has led to the creation
of extremely simplified bio-digesters that are made from polyethelene
(PE) tubular film (Fig. 3c). These devices do not have temperature
control or stirring equipment; the simplified design has four main parts,
the inlet pipe, the outlet pipe, the digestion chamber and the gas outlet
pipe. Unlike the other two designs these devices are very fragile so
during their construction they have been reported to be buried in
trenches, this helps with the insulation of the device because unlike the
Chinese and Indian designs the plastic walls are very thin. In
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
Fig. 3b. Floating cover (Indian type) di-
gester. Adopted from Gunnerson et al.
(1986).
mountainous regions after burying the digester they are normally
covered with roofing material to protect it from temperature regulation.
This has been reported as one of the cheapest ways to produce biogas in
the developing world.
4.1. Feedstock pretreatment
Nature has perfectly designed lignicellulosic biomass, and its mo-
lecular structure makes it capable of withstanding harsh external con-
ditions. The three main polymers which comprises lignicellulosic bio-
mass are cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, the hetero-matrix which
these polymers are associated to each other along with their relative
composition depending on the type, species and even the source is re-
sponsible for the structural integrity of the lignocellulosic source
(Bajpai, 2016). Whenever lignocellulosic biomass has been used for
energy production, pretreatment seemed to be essential to the pro-
duction efficiency (Bu et al., 2016). Out of the four classifications for
pretreatment as discussed previously, majority are focused on the
eventual thermo-chemical decomposition of the biomass, only a few
available technologies are used for biological conversion techniques.
Some of the current pretreatment methods, which have been the subject
of investigations and are being used in chemical industries, are am-
monia fiber explosion (AFEX) (Bals et al., 2010; Mathew et al., 2016),
lime pretreatment (Kaar and Holtzapple, 2000; Sierra et al., 2009),
ammonia recycle percolation (ARP) (Kim and Lee, 2005; Yoon et al.,
1995), dilute acid/hot water batch (Bhagia et al., 2016; Martin et al.,
2011), and hot water flow through (Yu et al., 2011). The combination
of these techniques that are chemical methods along with mechanical
methods, whose purpose is to reduce the particle size, facilitates the
decomposition of biomass. The way how these pretreatment methods
work is by exposing the cellulose content of the lignicellulose biomass,
lignin content reduction is important because it serves no nutritional
value for the microorganisms that degrade the biomass into valued
products. The reduction of the lignin content along with the simulta-
neous exposure of the sugar content trapped inside the cellulose and
hemicellolose improves the efficiency of decomposition (Bajpai, 2016;
Ma et al., 2016). There have been reports by Ma et al. (2016) that their
hydrothermal pretreatment processes was able to increase the cellulose
availability about 50% more than un treated biomass. Pretreatment has
H.M. Morgan et al. Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921

Fig. 3c. Polyethylene tubular digester. Adopted from Plöchl and Heiermann (2006).

been reported as an essential process because it reduces the amount of and cooking. However, the direct use of biogas can lead to problems,
time necessary for the actual decomposition, which has economic because the gas has impurities that result in a low heating value. Raw
benefits that contribute to cost reduction and profit gains. These pre- biogas that is extracted from a biodigester that has around 60% of the
treatment methods described previously require expensive equipment volume to be CH4 which has an energy value of 21.5 MJ per m3 com-
and chemicals, so when it comes to their application for individuals in pared to the 35.8 MJ per m3 of enriched biogas (Muylaert et al., 1999).
the developing world, it would seem more of a luxury than something Low heating values for energy compounds are counterproductive be-
essential for the production process. Therefore, with proper innovation cause their purpose is to provide the greatest amount of exothermic
some of the methods can be simplified and various techniques can be heat requiring the smallest volume possible. Another problem that is a
employed in the pretreatment of the biomass. Substituting the chemi- result of the direct use of bio-gas is pipe corrosion and blockage due to
cals and materials to cheaper ones will decrease the efficiency of the the presence of acidic compounds and contaminants in the gas flow
system, but this would still be better than if no pretreatment methods (H2S, CO2, H2O) (Verma et al., 2017). Thus, to reduce the volume and
were to be used. In recent years, many individuals have been using lime improve the quality of the bio-gas, it must undergo an enrichment/
pretreatment as a method to initiate the breakdown of biomass (Solé- purification process. During bio-gas purification, specialized equipment
Bundó et al., 2017), it is one of the simplest forms of chemical pre- and chemicals remove components from the raw biogas that are not the
treatment and requires very little technical expertise. The im- energy carrying compound which is the CH4. In developed nations they
plementation of these self-made pretreatment methods has been re- have developed specialized filters that are capable of removing the
ported to improve the efficiency of bio-digesters in the developing moisture and contaminants through a pressure swing process
world. Increased efficiency is directly related to economic growth be- (Augelletti et al., 2017). Pressure swing uses high pressure to break the
cause more biogas is produced from the simple structured bio-digesters. gas into smaller fragments that increase the surface area available for
With more gas being produced, the owner of the system is able to use chemical interaction within the filter. These materials and equipment
the available energy for longer periods and does not need to spend extra can be very expensive. Minh Ho et al. (2008) investigated the cost prices
money on charcoal or other materials for substituting biogas when the and its reduction for the pressure swing process in gas purification,
production capacity is low. their analysis considered both high pressure feed and vacuum deso-
rption using chemical absorbent 13X. In this analysis the estimated cost
that used vacuum desorption reduced the capture cost from US$57 to
4.2. Biogas purification and storage US$51 per ton of CO2 and was comparable in cost to CO2 capture using
conventional MEA absorption of US$49 per ton of CO2 (Ho et al., 2008).
Biogas that is produced directly from a bio-digester is composed of Even with the considered cost reduction of these purification techni-
several gas fractions, these components of raw biogas along with their ques they are still out of reach for developing nations due to a lack of
chemical properties are observed in Table 1. technology. Therefore, to improve the gas quality, people in developing
Many individuals in developing economies use it directly for heating nations have had to innovate their own purification system. Limited
availability of technology makes it impossible to create high-tech zeo-
Table 1
lite filters, so they must rely on their basic chemistry knowledge to
Chemical composition of biogas and properties of components (Braun, 2007).
purify the bio-gas. A solution of lime water is one of the most popular
Component Concentration Properties methods used by individuals in the developing world to improve the
quality of biogas. The gas is injected into to the lime water column
CH4 50–75% (v/v) Energy carrier
under high pressure to reduce the size of the bubbles and increase the
CO2 20–50% (v/v) Decrease heating value, Corrosive, especially
in presence of moisture surface area (Fig. 4). The chemical reaction that occurs is a neu-
H2S 0–5000 ppm (v/v) Corrosive Sulfur dioxide emission during tralization reaction that removes CO2 and H2S by reacting with the Ca
combustion (OH)2 inside the solution. In an investigation conducted by Mel et al.
NH3 0–500 ppm (v/v) NOx – Emissions during combustion (2014) they researched the efficiency of the lime water column on
N2 0–5% (v/v) Decreases heating value
biogas purification. The results of their investigation showed that the
Water vapor 1–5% (v/v) Facilitate corrosion in presence of CO2 and
sulfur dioxide (SO2) two most important factors when using this technique are the

917
H.M. Morgan et al.
Fig. 4. Generic absorber schematic. Adopted from Mel et al. (2014).
concentration of the lime water solution and the flow rate of the biogas.
Increasing concentration allowed for increased purification as well as
increased pressure improved the purification because of the particle
size and mixing. However 14% was the highest improvement for the
CH4 concentration compared to the initial concentration of the raw
biogas (Mel et al., 2014). The authors of this paper agree that with
continuous investigation and adaptation of multi level upgrading, the
purity of the biogas can be improved. It would be comparable to a
purification system that uses plastic-zeolite fiber filters manufactured
by HoSt bio-energy systems (Enschede, Netherlands) which have been
reported to produce a 99.98% pure methane gas. The gas they are
capable of producing can be used in automobiles or injected into a gas
grid.
Storage is another concern for individuals or farms that produce
biogas, in the developed world their primary use of biogas is for cost
reduction of electric consumption. The gas they produce is used to run
generators on the farm that provide energy for lighting and heating, the
remainder of their produce can be injected into a grid system or electric
surplus can power the neighboring communities (Convion, 2017). For
farms and small businesses in developing countries there is no infra-
structure, such as a gas grid, and thus the gas they produce is primarily
used for cooking and heating. However, communities are not normally
located near the production site and they must find ways of trans-
porting the gas to the consumers. Storing the gas for transport is ne-
cessary but expensive storage devices are out of the question, hence
some small businesses in these countries have found ways of com-
pressing and storing the gas in liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders,
rubber tubes, or even LDPE/HDPE bags. They have adapted regular gas
compressors and gas range stoves to store and burn biogas for cooking.
Table 2 shows a summary for the cost comparison of the basic equip-
ment and materials needed for bio-gas production. The prices given in
the table fall within a range depending on the size of the bio-digestion
system, the brand of those equipment that are industrial, and the type
of materials being used for construction of the self-made systems. This
data has been collected from various industrial equipment sale sites.
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Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921
5. The influence of biogas systems on developing countries
The production and self-sufficiency of energy is fundamental to the
prosperity of any society. Thus, if systems are created in developing
countries, such as self-made bio-digesters, it can be very beneficial to
local communities. The availability of energy can improve the standard
of living in these communities. When developed nations are compared
to those that are developing there is a clear distinction between the two
groups where in advanced societies, they have direct access to everyday
commodities such as lighting, heating, communication, etc while the
developing economies does not. The immediate access to these com-
modities improves the standard of living because there is no need for
individuals to go out and gather resources on a daily basis. In turn, it
allows people living in these situations to focus on other aspects which
they can use to advance their society technologically and economically.
In a conference concerning developing countries conducted by UNESCO
(1997), they found out that people living in developing countries,
especially in rural communities, spend an average 3 h daily in search of
food and energy. The implementation of renewable energy systems
would have a direct social benefit to those that need it the most. Women
and children are the ones who would primarily benefit from the im-
plementation of biogas systems, because they are the ones in the house
hold that are primarily responsible for cooking and cleaning (Liu et al.,
2008; Top et al., 2004). In many developing countries the house hold
still primarily uses open fire burning of biomass in the form of wood,
coal or dried dung as a source of fuel for cooking which typically
composes about 90% of the house hold energy consumption compared
to the developed world which cooking with cleaner fuels only accounts
for around 30% of the house hold’s energy consumption (Li et al.,
2005). The burning of open source fuel has been reported to have ne-
gative health effects to the women and children that carry out these
tasks. This is because cooking indoors with improper ventilation results
in something called indoor air pollution (IAP). Some of the negative
side effects of IAP in developing countries have been reported to cause
lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and child
pneumonia (Desai et al., 2004; Dherani et al., 2008). Other studies have
also linked IAP to cause other health problems such as low birth weight
H.M. Morgan et al. Bioresource Technology 250 (2018) 910–921

Table 2
Cost comparison between industrial and self-made equipment and materials.

Equipment/Material Industrial$ Self-made$

Bio-digester $500,000 to $10,00,000 Small industrial bio-digester with 2000 kg daily $200 to $1500 Home scale bio-digester with 50 kg daily input capacity.
input capacity. Various types of solid waste Various type of solid waste
https://hnkingdo.en.alibaba.com/ (Marchaim, 1992)
Purification system $5000 to $50,000 Small industrial biogas purification system with $200 to $500 home scale biogas scrubbing with lime water. The capacity is
∼10 m3/s gas flow capacity. dependent on the column size. The material used for construction also
https://cncamda.en.alibaba.com/ affects the price of the system, PVC or metal pipes
(Mel et al., 2014)
Storage tanks $5000 to $5,00,000 double membrane biogas storage tank. 10 m3 to $100 to $1000 home scale small bags. The prices vary depending on the
10,000 m3 customizable storage capacity. With automated controls. storage capacity and durability of the material. Most of these devices have
https://amoco.en.alibaba.com/ a warranty of about 5 years
https://jhr.en.alibaba.com/
Micro-organism $200 to $1500 specialized starter kits of bacteria that anaerobically Free it is sourced from cow, pig, chicken, sheep or any other type of
culture decomposes biomass. The cost varies on the amount needed depending on manure. In some situations even human waste can be used
the tank size and daily input of new biomass.
https://sukahan.en.alibaba.com/
Biogas compressor $5000 to $30,000 small scale industrial compressor with a capacity of Adapted from other devices. In some places regular air compressors are
100 Nm3/h and have and output pressure of 3625 psi. The compressed gas adapted for home made biogas compression. Pressures of up to 500 psi can
can be transferred to LPG storage tanks to be used for various purposes. be achieved. Even the compressors from old refrigerators can be used.
https://chinarealtech.en.alibaba.com/ Though this is very dangerous because the properties of air and natural gas
are different and even the flammability of CH4 is a concern

and still birth (Pope et al., 2010), cataracts (Bruce et al., 2000), tu-
berculosis (Slama et al., 2010), and high blood pressure (McCracken
et al., 2007) among others. According to the World Health Organization
(WHO, 2017b) about 1.5 million premature deaths occur per year
which are directly related to IAP from the use of solid fuels, 85% of
them are caused by biomass use while the rest is due to coal use. Biogas
burns with a clean flame and with little emission so the implementation
of biogas producing systems would reduce the risk of health defi-
ciencies and the amount of time spent on gathering heating and cooking
energy. The extra free time gained would allow these individuals to
focus on further education that they can use to develop their tech-
nology. The social benefits are endless because the more time that is
spent on becoming more educated means that they will be able to apply
the new knowledge on areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, and
health. With the implementation of more developed systems the quality
of life of women and children can be improved because they would also
have additional time for recreational activities (Katuwal and Bohara,
2009).
The direct application of a self-made biogas producing system can
also have economic benefits to these communities. The types of bio-
digesters that are typically built in the developing world are not me-
chanized nor are they computerized. They require manual labor for its
loading, stirring and emptying. If there are no social investment pro-
grams available in these communities and also if there is limited
technical expertise not everyone would be capable of constructing bio-
digesters. Hence large tanks on live stock farms can be constructed to
create additional employment in the production of biogas energy. Every
aspect of the production process can create employment due to the lack
of sophisticated computerized technology. The filtration, storage and
eventual sale of the biogas would create opportunities to individuals
would not have had the opportunity if the system was not in place.
Employment opportunities for young people and in some cases women
will contribute to their self empowerment which improves their stan-
dard of living. Thus the installation of these systems can directly con-
tribute to increased opportunities and gender equality in these devel-
oping nations.
Apart from social and economic development, the introduction of
renewable energy sources to developing nations also has environmental
benefits. Most people in rural communities depend on biomass as a
source for fuel and the biomass that they normally employ are forest
residues. (Osei, 1993) explained that about 54% of deforestation in the
developing world is caused by harvesting fuel material. Worldwide
deforestation is responsible for 17–25% of all anthropogenic GHG
emissions (Strassburg et al., 2009), making it one of the leading causes
of GHG emissions. Another negative result of harvesting biomass from
forest residues is that it causes soil erosion and land degradation
(Gautam et al., 2009). In a study conducted by Katuwal and Bohara
(2009), they estimated that the average household bio-digester an-
nually spares the direct burning of 3 metric tons(6600)lbs)) of firewood
and 576 kg (1270 lbs) of dung; which eliminates 4.5 metric tons
(9900lbs) of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Another negative impact
of deforestation is the destruction of wildlife habitats, habitat destruc-
tion leads to loss of environmental diversity. Renewable energy sources
can benefit the people living in the community as well as preserve the
environment.
Environmental preservation is of great importance to developing
nations because some of them depend heavily on the tourist industry to
generate income. Apart from being crucial to the country’s develop-
ment, renewable sources of energy are carbon neutral, meaning that
they do not release additional carbon into the atmosphere, which is
crucial for the environment(Ragauskas et al., 2006). An additional
benefit of the implementation of biogas systems is both environmental
and economical; anaerobic digestion is more complicated than aerobic
technologies when treating organic waste. Compared to composting,
incineration or even a combination of digestion and composting,
anaerobic digestion is superior to them because of an improved energy
balance and the reduction for the emission of volatile compounds such
as ketones, aldehydes, ammonia and methane (Edelmann et al., 1999).
In contrast to composting or direct burning the anaerobic digestion of
biomass is dual purpose being that it is able to provide fuel and ferti-
lizer from the same process making it beneficial for the environment
and for the economy as well. At the end of the digestion process the
waste product known as the slurry (digestate) is still very valuable
because it is still rich with macro and micro-nutrients. This can be
applied to the soil as a replacement for inorganic fertilizer which re-
duces cost and is beneficial for the environment. The application of
digestate to land have been reported to improve the physical, chemical
and biological attributes of soils as well as increase crop productivity
(Weiland, 2010). The digestate has also been known to suppress soil-
born pathogens by stimulating soil actinomycetes which produce anti-
biotics. In general digestate contains N2 (1.8%), P2O5 (1.0%), K2O
(0.9%), Mn (188 ppm), Fe (3550 ppm), Zn (144 ppm) and Cu (28 ppm)
(Nagavallemma et al., 2004; Singh et al., 1993).

919
H.M. Morgan et al.
6. Conclusions
Micro systems can create energy independence in the developing
world. In developing countries it is suggested that waste residues pri-
marily from agriculture be used because of its abundance and nutrient
availability. The use of these renewable sources of biomass material can
ensure the proper conservation of the environment in developing na-
tions. With the right amount of scientific innovation on gas production,
purification and storage the quality of the gas produced can be im-
proved and implemented into other forms of energy use. These systems
can improve health, environmental, and social conditions as well as
create economic opportunities to women and children.
Acknowledgements
This study was partially supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Award Number: 31500494, 61233006), the China
Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Award Number: 2017M611730), the
Jiangsu Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Award Number: 1701113B),
the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu
Province(Award Number: KYCX17_1790), the Start-up Fund for
Advanced Talents of Jiangsu University (Award Number: 15JDG013);
“Youth backbone teacher training project” for young academic leaders
cultivation candidates of Jiangsu University; School of Agricultural
Equipment Engineering at Jiangsu University, and the Priority
Academic Program of the Development of Jiangsu Higher Education
Institutions (PAPD).
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