The global demand for energy is met mainly by fossil fuels. Their excessive and indiscriminate use, coupled with increasing demand for energy, will soon deplete their existing reserves. Therefore, it is extremely important to find alternative, environment-friendly, and ecologically sound sources of energy for meeting the present and future energy requirements. Biogas Technology: Towards Sustainable Development makes an attempt to explore the potential of utilizing biodegradable biomass as fuel and manure.

Anaerobic biotechnology is a cost-effective and sustainable means of treating waste and wastewaters that couples treatment processes with the reclamation of useful by-products and renewable biofuels. This means of treating municipal, agricultural, and industrial wastes allows waste products to be converted to value-added products such as biofuels, biofertilizers, and other chemicals. Anaerobic Biotechnology for Bioenergy Production: Principles and Applications provides the reader with basic principles of anaerobic processes alongside practical uses of anaerobic biotechnology options. This book will be a valuable reference to any professional currently considering or working with anaerobic biotechnology options.

This book contains research on the chemistry of each step of biogas generation, along with engineering principles and practices, feasibility of biogas production in processing technologies, especially anaerobic digestion of waste and gas production system, its modeling, kinetics along with other associated aspects, utilization and purification of biogas, economy and energy issues, pipe design for biogas energy, microbiological aspects, phyto-fermentation, biogas plant constructions, assessment of ecological potential, biogas generation from sludge, rheological characterization, etc.

Production and utilization of sustainable energy toward maintaining a clean environment is a major challenge. At the same time, the continued depletion of fossil fuels and the global dependency on non-renewable fuels is a chief concern. Moreover, the long-term economic and environmental issues associated with the high utilization of fossil fuel, such as global warming, are also important, particularly in the context of the predicted increase in the global population to around 5 billion by 2050. In recent years, researchers have been investigating alternative, renewable fuels to replace fossil fuels. Of the various options, biofuels are especially attractive due to their low production costs and the fact that they are pollution free. Also known as transportation fuels, their energy is derived from biological resources or through the biological processes. Biofuels such as biohydrogen, biomethane, biogas, ethanol and butanol offer a number of advantages and can be economically produced from cellulosic biomass. As such, they can play a vital role in sustainably meeting future energy demands. Biofuels have the potential to become a global primary energy source, offering significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as well as opportunities to increase economic and social development in rural communities and reduce the problems associated with waste disposal. However, low yields and lack of process technology are some of the aspects that need to be addressed. This book offers an overview of existing biofuels and the technologies to solve the problems associated with their practical implementation. Evaluating the biofuel options and discussing the opportunities and risks in relation to resources, technologies, practices, markets and policy, it provides insights into the development of economically viable bioenergy industries.

Small-scale Rural Biogas Programmes provides a comprehensive overview of the existing knowledge covering: the history of biogas programmes, the technology behind them, the value of biogas effluent as compost, details of the main domestic biogas plant designs, how biogas extension programmes work, and how they could be replicated.

Innovation in Small-Farm Agriculture: Improving Livelihoods and Sustainability is an invaluable resource focussing on the current state of knowledge and scientific advances about the complex and intertwined issues of innovation and how they relate to livelihood of small-scale farmers. This book exposes readers with a holistic overview on how agriculture is most associated with the development and transfer of technologies to farmers and their participation in research and development initiatives to improve the relevancy and usefulness of its outputs and innovation which is not well documented. The book offers comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including: Recent scientific advances on agricultural innovations for small farmers. Emphasizes on opportunities and constraints of techno-institutional paradigms. Highlight low-cost and eco-friendly interventions. Case studies on various innovations in agriculture spanning the different agricultural gamut.

The subject of this book is “Biofuel and Bioenergy Technology”. It aims to publish high-quality review and research papers, addressing recent advances in biofuel and bioenergy. State-of-the-art studies of advanced techniques of biorefinery for biofuel production are also included. Research involving experimental studies, recent developments, and novel and emerging technologies in this field are covered. This book contains twenty-seven technical papers which cover diversified biofuel and bioenergy technology-related research that have shown critical results and contributed significant findings to the fields of biomass processing, pyrolysis, bio-oil and its emulsification; transesterification and biodiesel, gasification and syngas, fermentation and biogas/methane, bioethanol and alcohol-based fuels, solid fuel and biochar, and microbial fuel cell and power generation development. The published contents relate to the most important techniques and analyses applied in the biofuel and bioenergy technology.

The shortage of energy in rural areas and the pollution of the environment from animal wastes due to lack of appropriate technology in Africa motivated the author to conduct research and write this book. In this research book an economically feasible, technically acceptable and environmentally friendly biogas plant is designed by using low cost plastic materials. This book is an essential reference for chemical engineering, environmental engineering and agricultural students. The concept solves global environmental pollution and the problem of lack of energy and organic fertilizer in rural communities at once. Moreover, this book plays an important role for agricultural researchers working in rural energy and environmental protection.

Solid waste management is currently a major issue worldwide with numerous areas reaching critical levels. Many developing countries and countries in transition still miss basic waste management infrastructure and awareness. It is here that many of the solid waste management problems and challenges are currently being faced. As such, waste-to-energy (WTE) consists of a proven and continuously developing spectrum and range of technologies in a number of (mostly) developed countries. However, it’s integration in developing countries and systems in transition is often faced with scepticism and a complex set of barriers which are quite unique and differ greatly from those where WTE has been validated and applied over the years. Waste-to-Energy: Opportunities and Challenges for Developing and Transition Economies will address this issue both theoretically and using concrete examples, including: · contributions from numerous scholars and practitioners in the field, · useful lessons and rules of thumb, · both successful and failed cases, and · real-life examples and developments. Waste-to-Energy approaches this dynamic aspect of environmental engineering and management in a methodical and detailed manner making it an important resource for SWM planners and facility operators as well as undergraduate and post graduate students and researchers.