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Abstract:
The Earth’s natural resources are constantly decreasing day by day and eventually they’ll
disappear one day and the fuel needs will not get fulfilled so that’s why we need an
alternative way to get going without worrying about those natural resources. Biogas is an
excellent alternative for that purpose and can be produced easily. Normally biogas is
produced from anaerobic digestion of cow dung and other organic matters but here we
used food waste to produce biogas. Research has shown that One kg of kitchen waste in 24
hours can produce the same amount of biogas as 40 kg of cow dung in 40 days. That means
more than 400 times efficiency can be achieved by using kitchen waste as compared to cow
dung. The main advantage of doing this can be the recycling of left-over food from
restaurants and using fruit peels rather than throwing them in trash cans. By doing this we
can produce biogas which can be used as fuel or for heating purpose and it doesn’t even
have a drawback to environment.
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Introduction:

Biogas:
Biogas is a renewable fuel produced by the breakdown of organic matter such as food scraps
and animal waste. It will be utilized in a spread of the way as well as fuel for vehicle and for
heating and electricity generation. Biogas could be a gas combination fashioned by the
breakdown of organic waste anaerobically, largely alkane series and greenhouse gas. Biogas
is made once microorganism digest organic matter (biomass). This method is named
anaerobic digestion. It happens naturally at anyplace and might be reproduced unnaturally
in designed containers known as digesters. Raw Materials include Fermentable, biomass-
containing residues (sewage sludge, perishable waste, and food waste), residues from farm
animal (manure), antecedently unused plants/plant components, energy crops, and cow
dung. The production method consists of three steps, firstly hydrolysis process will occur in
which macro molecule will be converted into smaller molecules that will be soluble in water.
In the second step, the anaerobic digestion process will be acidogenesis that will result in
the conversion of the hydrolyzed products into simple molecules with a low molecular
weight. In the third stage, acetogenesis, the products of the acidification will be converted
into acetic acid, H2, and CO2 by acetogenic bacteria. Biomass will turn into biogas by
microbe (methanolobus psychrophilus bacteria).

Why Biogas is needed?

Biogas is known as an environment-friendly energy source because it alleviates two major
environmental problems simultaneously:
1. The global waste epidemic releases dangerous levels of methane gas every day.
2. We rely on fossil fuel energy to meet global energy demand.
Biogas systems protect our air, water, and soil by recycling organic waste into renewable
energy and soil products, while reducing GHG emissions. The main benefits of biogas
systems come from the fact that they are recycling all this material while also producing
renewable energy and soil products which displace fossil fuels. When you put these and
other benefits together, we can prevent tons of carbon emissions from entering our air,
prevent nutrients from entering our waterways, create healthier soils with natural, non-
fossil fuel-based fertilizers, and produce reliable, baseload renewable energy. Biogas also
helps mitigate methane emissions that would have otherwise escaped from landfills or
manure lagoons. Using this methane as a fuel dramatically reduces its climate impact by
converting it into CO2, which is up to 34 times less potent as a greenhouse gas. With the
right processing, biogas can be upgraded to replace mined natural gas for use as a fuel for
electricity production, ground transportation, and commercial and residential buildings. But
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by and large, we can and should rely on zero-carbon sources like wind and solar to generate
electricity, and then electrify as many end-uses (such as ground transport and buildings) as
possible.

Significance of Biogas:
Generating and using biogas has advantages and disadvantages, like all other energy
sources. You should carefully consider these practical aspects when analyzing whether to
invest in a biogas plant.
Among the most popular benefits of biogas, we can mention:
1. It is a renewable, clean source of energy that relies on a carbon-neutral process, meaning
that no new amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere when using biogas.
2. It helps divert food waste from landfills, positively impacting the environment and
economics.
3. It reduces soil and water contamination from animal manure and human feces,
maintaining a healthy and safe environment for many communities worldwide.
4. It reduces the amount of CH4 (methane) emitted to the atmosphere, countering climate
change with a possible immediate impact on the environment.
Biogas is an excellent source of clean energy, meaning that it has a lower impact on the
environment than fossil fuels. While not having a zero impact on the ecosystems, biogas is
carbon-neutral. That’s because biogas is produced from plant matter, which has previously
fixed carbon from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A balance between the carbon
released from biogas and the amount absorbed from the atmosphere is maintained.
Animal and plant wastes can be used to produce biogas. They are processed in anaerobic
digesters as a liquid or as a slurry mixed with water. Anaerobic digesters are generally
composed of a feedstock source holder, a digestion tank, a biogas recovery unit, and heat
exchangers to maintain the temperature necessary for bacterial digestion. Small-scale
household digesters containing as little as 757 litres (200 gallons) can be used to provide
cooking fuel or electric lighting in rural homes. Millions of homes in less-developed regions,
including China and parts of Africa, are estimated to use household digesters as a renewable
energy source.
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Since the turn of the century, biogas production worldwide has increased noticeably. In
2019, global biogas production had an equivalent energy content of 1.43 exajoules. In
comparison, biogas production in the year 2000 totaled 0.29 exajoules
Pakistan needs a continuous supply of clean and cheap energy. Pakistan is facing a critical
energy crisis and renewable energy resources can be the best alternatives for quickly
terminating need for fossil fuels. In Pakistan biogas could be good solution to meet the
energy needs.
Pakistan, being the developing and predominantly agricultural economy, can produce 16.3
million cubic meters of biogas by using 652 million kilograms of animal dung as a substrate.
It can replace crop residue and wood fuel used to produce energy for 112 million rural
people (Amjid et al. 2011; Akram et al. 2017).

As per recent livestock census, there are 51 million animals (Buffaloes, Cows, Bullocks) in
Pakistan. Thus, 19.125 Million M3 biogas can be produced daily by anaerobic fermentation
of dung through installation of about 3.825 million family size biogas plants, which could
meet the cooking needs of about 50 million people. The total population of Pakistan is about
170 million, out of which 68% reside in the rural areas, which comes to be 98 million.
Therefore we can meet the cooking / heating requirements of 44% rural masses from this
single source of energy (biogas).
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Production of Biogas (Conventional Method):

Biogas is formed by bacteria during the anaerobic degradation of organic material. The
degradation is a very complex process and requires certain environmental conditions as well
as different bacterial populations. The degradation process also takes a long time. The more
time that is allowed for the process to take place, the more complete the generation will be
and the more biogas will be produced. The anaerobic process is also partly dependent on
temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster is digestion and biogas production.
Below 10°C biogas production occurs very slowly if at all, and above 65°C very few strains of
bacteria can survive.
The size of the biogas digester is also critical. If it has too small a volume relating to the daily
load there is a risk of washout of undigested material from the system. In such cases the
growth of bacteria in the system is too slow to sustain balanced degradation. If the digester
is too big it is a waste of money.
There are two optimum temperature ranges for methanogens (methane producing
bacteria), one at 30–40°C and one at 50–60°C. These are known as the mesophilic and
thermophilic ranges respectively. To operate at the higher temperature range a heating
system must be employed. This makes the system more complex and expensive. The rate of
methane generation approximately doubles for every 10°C rise. Temperature fluctuations
should be minimized since they severely inhibit the methanogens. Toxic substances in feeds
can severely inhibit the rate of digestion.

Production of Biogas by Food Waste:

1kg food waste (sugar, starch, cellulose, protein or fat) yields 1 kg biogas in 1d instead of 40
kg dung requiring 40d. Efficiency raised 600 times. Dung less urban system uses food waste.
The waste generated in kitchen in the form of vegetable refuse, stale cooked and uncooked
food, waste milk and milk products could all be processed in this plant. Research has shown
that One kg of kitchen waste in 24 hours can produce the same amount of biogas as 40 kg of
cow dung in 40 days. That means more than 400 times efficiency can be achieved by using
kitchen waste as compared to cow dung. Thus the efficient disposal of kitchen waste can be
ecofriendly as well as cost effective.

Procedure of Production:
It will consist into three stages. In the first stage, hydrolysis process will occur in which
macro molecule like protein polysaccharides and fats that will be compose from the cellular
mass of the microorganisms and will converted into smaller molecules that will be soluble in
water. This process will be done by exo-enzymes excreted fermentative bacteria which
produce acetate and hydrogen. A small amount of the carbon converted and will end up as
volatile fatty acids, primarily propionic and butyric acids.
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In the second step, the anaerobic digestion (AD) process will be acidogenesis or acidification
in a Reaction. A process that will results in the conversion of the hydrolyzed products into
simple molecules with a low molecular weight, like VFA (e.g., acetic-, propionic- and butyric
acid), alcohols, aldehydes and gases like CO2, H2 and NH3. Acidification will be affected by a
diverse group of bacteria. The majority of which will strictly anaerobic. The acidogenic
bacteria will be able to metabolize organic material (waste material) down to a very low pH
of around 4-5. The monomers will result of first reaction will become substrates for the
microorganisms we choose, in the second stage where they will be converted into organic
acids by bacteria.
In the third stage, acetogenesis, the products of the acidification will be converted into
acetic acids, H2, and CO2 by acetogenic bacteria. It will be transformed into a form suitable
as substrate for the process of methanogensis. There will have a certain amount of
specialization in it due that different bacteria will act on different substrates. These bacteria
will be required to work properly to achieve the desired end product (biogas), the required
conditions will be well balanced too. The substrate will be dilution i.e. the amounts of water
will dilute the animal waste. The optimum temperature should be about 350C-351C.

Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Substrates in 4 steps

Conclusion:
Biogas is an environmentally-friendly, renewable energy source. It’s produced when organic
matter, such as food or animal waste, is broken down by microorganisms in the absence of
oxygen, in a process called anaerobic digestion. For this to take place, the waste material
needs to be enclosed in an environment where there is no oxygen. Biodegradable waste is
the organic waste that could be degrade into carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
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water (H2O) or in simple organic compounds by the help of microorganism easily in less
time. Biogas production is a promising technique for food wastes and Municipal Solid Waste
management. However, some operational challenges, such as the presence of undesired
materials in MSW, high potentials for acidification, and low process stability, have limited
the widespread application of this technique. Optimizing operational parameters, as well as
applying additives, digestate recirculation, frequent feeding, and feedstock pretreatments
are among the methods to improve biogas production process from food wastes.
Nevertheless, further studies are required to develop more economic processes in the view
of the bio refinery approach based on the existing digesters. Biogas production in Pakistan
from Anaerobic bio degradation of organic material, agriculture, livestock waste is less as
compared to kitchen waste and food material is 350 and 396 (liters/kg Vs) respectively (5).
For the production of methane gas from kitchen waste material we are using methanolobus
psychrophilus bacteria because it can survive in harm area for like our Pakistan weather is
while it produced more methane gas (6). And utilize remaining biomass as fertilizer.

Future Perspective:
Biogas could play a key role in the developing market for renewable energy and the
utilization of biogas in the world is expected to be doubled in the next years, ranging from
14.5 GW in 2012 to 29.5 GW in 2022.

Objectives:
• To produce biogas from food waste.
• To increase production of biogas rather than toxic gases.
• To provide a source of fuel for world.
• To utilize our green waste.
• To reduces the environment population.

Methodology:

Collection of Material
(Organic waste & spoiled food)

Develop a Biogas Digester

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Collection of Biogas by Anaerobic Digestion

Budget:
Table 1: Estimated cost of budget
S. no. Year Recurring Non recurring Total (pkr)
1. 1st 628,505.315 473,027.724 1,101,533.039
2. 2nd 628,505.315 - 628,505.315
Grand total 1,730,038.354

Table 2: Expenditure of salaries and allowances

No. of
S. no. Post Pay (pkr) 1st Year 2nd Year Total (pkr)
post
Project
1. 50,000 1 50,000 50,000 100,000
investigator
2. Research officer 25,000 1 300,000 300,000 600,000
3. Lab attendant 10,000 1 120,000 120,000 240,000
4. Contingency 5% 150kmax 150kmax 300kmax
Grand total 620,000 620,000 1,240,000
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Table 3: Expenditure of equipment and supplies

Total (inclusive of
S. no. Item 1st year 2nd year
G.S.T.) (pkr)
1. Equipment 417,930.084 - 417,930.084
2. Chemicals 8,505.315 8,505.315 17,010.63
3. Glassware 5066.1 - 5066.1
4. Plastic ware 12,846.6 - 12,846.6
5. Others 37,184.94 - 37,184.94

Table 4: List of equipment available

S. no. Equipment Available at
Dept. Of Biotechnology, University of
1. Autoclave
Karachi
Dept. Of Biotechnology, University of
2. Centrifuge
Karachi
Dept. Of Biotechnology, University of
3. pH Meter
Karachi

Appendix 1: List of equipment

S. no. Equipment Brand name Product/cat # Cost (pkr)
(Self-
1. Biogas Digester - 357,205
Constructed)
357,205.2 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
60,724.884
Grand total 417,930.084

Appendix 2: List of chemicals (1st year)

S.
Chemical Quantity Brand name Product/cat # Cost (pkr)
no.
Krishana
1. Tapioca 50 kg 113122150 2752.5
Foods
Engro
2. Urea 50 kg - 2017
Fertilizers
Shreenathjee
3. Na2CO3 50 kg - 2500
Chemicals

7269.5 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
1235.815
Grand total 8,505.315
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Appendix 3: List of chemicals (2nd year)

S.
Chemical Quantity Brand name Product/cat # Cost (pkr)
no.
Krishana
1. Tapioca 50 kg 113122150 2752.5
Foods
Engro
2. Urea 50 kg - 2017
Fertilizers
Shreenathjee
3. Na2CO3 50 kg - 2500
Chemicals

7269.5 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
1235.815
Grand total 8,505.315

Appendix 4: List of glassware

S. no. Item Quantity Unit cost Cost (pkr)
1. Beaker (1000ml) 2 404 808
2. Conical Flask (1000ml) 2 752 1504
3. Measuring Cylinder (1000ml) 1 1105 1105
4. Pipette (10ml) 1 333 333
5. Petri dish 10 58 580
4330 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
736.1
Grand total 5066.1

Appendix 5: List of plastic ware

S. no. Item Quantity Unit cost Cost (pkr)
1. Funnel (100mm) 10 200 2000
Measuring cylinder (1000ml) 10 898 8,980
10,980 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
1866.66
Grand total 12,846.6

Appendix 6: List of others

S. no. Item Quantity Unit cost Cost (pkr)
1. Methanolobus Bacteria 1 culture 31,050 31,050
2. Filter paper 100pcs 732 732
31,782 +
Total + G.S.T (17%)
5402.94
Grand total 37,184.94
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biogas#:~:text=Biogas%20is%20an%20environmentally%2Dfriendly,a%20process%20
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Assignment:

1. Subject: Food Waste

Treatment: Anaerobic Digestion
Variable: Biogas

2. In this research, series investigation is performed. We can’t jump to next step until
previous one is completed. (Acidification cannot be processed until hydrolysis is
completed.)