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This study reviews the innovations and optimizations in biogas production from the biological perspective reported by recently published patents and research works. The proposed biological strategies can be categorized into three different groups, i.e., upstream, mainstream, and downstream approaches. In the first part of this review, upstream strategies, including pretreatments by fungal, microbial consortium, and enzymatic as well as some other biological methods including microaeration, composting, ensiling, and genetic and metabolic engineering are discussed in detail. The impacts of upstream strategies on biogas production as well as their potentials in further improving the biogas industry are comprehensively scrutinized. Despite their promising impacts on biogas production, such biological innovations are time-consuming and require extra equipment and facilities that should be addressed in future studies. Overall, most information on biogas production has been generated through lab-scale investigations and not by commercial plants, undermining the commercial value of these data for the right decision-making. Pilot data would be necessary for techno-economic analyses with acceptable accuracies. Therefore, the future efforts should be directed toward providing the missing data for re-engineering designs, calculations, and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the newly designed biogas plants.

In order to develop a product sustainably, multiple analyses, including comprehensive environmental assessment, are required. Solar-assisted production of walnut husk methanolic extract (WHME) as a natural antioxidant for biodiesel was scrutinized by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. More specifically, the environmental sustainability of WHME antioxidant was evaluated and compared to that of propyl gallate (PG), the most widely used synthetic biodiesel antioxidant, under two scenarios. Additionally, supplementary files including the inventory data consisting of raw data as well as elementary flows, mid-point, and end-point categories are presented. The analysis of scenarios revealed that the use of the natural antioxidant and the avoidance of the chemical antioxidant in biodiesel fuel could be regarded as an eco-friendly approach substantially enhancing the environmental friendliness of biodiesel in particular in terms of human health. Furthermore, given the waste-oriented nature of WHME, the scenario involved its application could serve as a promising strategy to simultaneously valorize the agro-waste and generate a value-added product; a move toward implementing the circular economy approach in the biodiesel industry.

A large volume of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is generated as waste feedstock around the globe. This abundant waste containing 0.75% oil on average could be a promising feedstock for biodiesel production if oil recovery could be accomplished in an economically-viable and environmentally-friendly manner. To achieve that, a new method called High Pressure Water Spray (HPWS) system was introduced and performed by spraying pressurized water (500 psi) at 30 °C, 60 °C, and 90 °C and combination of water-steam at 120 °C and 150 °C onto the surface of the oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB). The results obtained indicated that, the highest oil removal yield of 94.41 ± 0.02 wt% was obtained at 150 °C. Moreover, bioprospection of biodiesel properties based on fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile revealed that the biodiesels produced from the fresh crude palm oil and residual oil were comparable and were in accordance with international standards. In addition to that, the HPWS process led to an enhanced quality of the remaining lignocellulosic materials for conversion into other value added bio-products such as ligno-ethanol by decreasing lignin content and increasing cellulose content. In view of environmental impact assessment, the HPWS system showed favorable impacts on all the end-point damage categories especially in resources damage category. Moreover, economic assessment showed that the recovered CPO could be generated at a low price of USD 0.41 vs. USD 0.66 for CPO. Overall, this process could drastically increase the market value of an abundant type of waste in many parts of the world, i.e., EFB leading to the generation of additional wealth for the palm oil industry.

Biodiesel has a lower oxidation stability index (OSI) than mineral diesel fuel. Its consequential oxidation products and deteriorated physical and chemical properties of fuel are associated with engine operation challenges such as the formation of insoluble gums that can plug fuel filters. Given the fact that oxidation leads to barriers for commercial use of biodiesel, addition of appropriate antioxidants into biodiesel is a promising and cost-effective approach to overcome this challenge. Although synthetic antioxidants such as propyl gallate (PG) are frequently used to counter the oxidation process of biodiesel, PG is a designated carcinogen. In light of that, this study was conducted aiming at introducing walnut husk methanolic extract (WHME) as a more sustainable antioxidant to replace PG in waste cooking oil (WCO) methyl esters. Moreover, to facilitate the commercialization of the new product, a comprehensive environmental investigation and comparison with the conventional counterpart, i.e., PG, was performed using life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. To enhance the eco-friendly features of the natural antioxidant, a solar photovoltaic-driven extraction process based on methanol (as reagent) was used in extracting polyphenols from walnut husk. The results showed that the induction period of WCO methyl esters was prolonged from 1.2 h to more than 3 h (meeting the ASTM D6751 standards) using 5000 ppm and 250 ppm of WHME and PG, respectively. More specifically, 20-fold more natural antioxidants would be required to meet the international standards. However, since walnut-producing countries are responsible for 42.4% of global biodiesel production on one hand and the cost-effectiveness of walnut husks on the other hand, their valorization could attract the attention of the global biodiesel industry. Moreover, this study highlights the considerable environmental and health benefits of turning this bio-waste product into a value-added antioxidant fuel additive. The LCA results showed that the developed bio-antioxidant was more effective in different damage categories compared with PG, i.e., 0.32% in ecosystem quality, 12.13% in human health, 8.37% in climate change, and 614% in resource. Overall, the WHME obtained through solar photovoltaic-driven extraction process could outcompete PG from the environmental perspective.

Methanogenic anaerobic digestion (AD) is known as an alternative green technology, capable of converting different types of biomass and wastes into biogas. Various types of anaerobic reactors have been designed and implemented but regardless of the type of reactor use, it is necessary to thoroughly monitor the performance of such configurations and prevent any drastic change during biogas production process. Parameters such as pH, temperature, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), alkalinity, hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR), total solid (TS), volatile solid (VS), inhibitors such as ammonia, mixing and shear stress, etc., could potentially adversely affect the AD process efficiency if not managed. Hence, these parameters should be adjusted within a proper range to guarantee a favorable biogas production rate. The present chapter reviews the effects of major operational and non-operational parameters on AD process and summarize the most recent findings in this regard.

Biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic waste. Municipal and agroindustrial organic wastes are important feedstocks for producing biogas. Anaerobic digestion is a microbial process. It not only reduces the amount of waste to be disposed, but the methane produced can be burnt as fuel to provide energy. Anaerobic digestion is carried out in various kinds of bioreactors. This chapter is focused on the diverse bioreactor systems, or digesters, that are available for producing biogas. Depending on their design and operation, the different types of bioreactors are suited to different kinds of wastes, processing scenarios and other conditions. The following main types of bioreactors are discussed: the conventional anaerobic digesters (e.g. anaerobic sequencing batch reactor, continuous stirred tank reactor, anaerobic plug-flow reactor); the sludge retention reactors (e.g. anaerobic contact reactor, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor, expanded granular sludge blanket reactor, up-flow anaerobic solid-state reactor, anaerobic baffled reactor, internal circulation reactor, anaerobic fluidized bed reactor); the anaerobic membrane reactors; the anaerobic biofilm reactors; and the high rate reactors.

In this study, the recovery of residual oil from the spikelet of oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) was conducted. Residual oil was present in the OPEFB due to mechanical processes such as the loading of fruit into the sterilizer cage, sterilization and threshing, in which a certain portion of the oil from the fruitlet was impregnated mainly on the surface of the spikelet rather than on the stalk of OPEFB. The highest residual oil content was found mainly in the small OPEFB (28.49 ± 5.20% dry basis). The oil extraction process was introduced as hydro solvent-assisted steam extraction, which comprises of four main steps, i.e., flooding, injection, soaking and draining. The overall process resulted in above 83% residual oil removal from the spikelet. The proposed method can be an option to be implemented in the palm oil mill because it is a chemical-free, environment-friendly and novel process.

The effect of different aeration rates on the organic matter (OM) degradation during the active phase of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB)-rabbit manure co-composting process under constant forced-aeration system has been studied. Four different aeration rates, 0.13 L min(-1) kg(DM)(-1),0.26 L min(-1) kg(DM)(-1),0.49 L min(-1) kg(DM)(-1) and 0.74 L min(-1) kg(DM)(-1) were applied. 0.26 L min(-1) kg(DM)(-1) provided enough oxygen level (10%) for the rest of composting period, showing 40.5% of OM reduction that is better than other aeration rates. A dynamic mathematical model describing OM degradation, based on the ratio between OM content and initial OM content with correction functions of moisture content, free air space, oxygen and temperature has been proposed.

This article is a case study to compare the economic viabilities of biogas generation and compost projects in a palm oil mill in Malaysia with and without clean development mechanism (CDM). Biogas is captured from anaerobic ponds or digester tanks treating palm oil mill effluent (POME) and converted to green renewable electricity for grid connection, while compost is produced from the shredded empty fruit bunch and raw untreated POME. The both technologies were compared by considering the changes of the materials flow and energy balances. A palm oil mill with a capacity of 54 t fresh fruit bunch per hour has the potential to produce either 6.9 GWh of electricity from biogas or fertilizer equivalent to 488 t of nitrogen, 76 t of phosphorus and 1,065 t of potassium per year. The economic analysis for 10 years project term analysis indicated that CDM gave a significant impact and ensured economic viability for both projects with 25 % of internal rate of return (IRR), RM 12.39 million of net present value (NPV) and 3.5 years of payback period (PBP) for biogas project, whereas 31 % of IRR, RM 10.87 million of NPV and 2.9 years of PBP for compost project, respectively. In addition, sensitivity analysis indicated that the profitability of both projects will vary depending on the economic situation, such as electricity price which is based on the government policy, whereas compost price that depend on fertilizer market price with 43 % NPV change in 20 % range of fertilizer value.

Methane derived from anaerobic treatment of organic wastes has a great potential to be an alternative fuel. Abundant biomass from various industries could be a source for biomethane production where combination of waste treatment and energy production would be an advantage. This article summarizes the importance of the microbial population, with a focus on the methanogenic archaea, on the anaerobic fermentative biomethane production from biomass. Types of major wastewaters that could be the source for biomethane generation such as brewery wastewater, palm oil mill effluent, dairy wastes, cheese whey and dairy wastewater, pulp and paper wastewaters and olive oil mill wastewaters in relevance to their dominant methanogenic population are fully discussed in this article.

Problem statement: A 500 m3 semi-commercial closed anaerobic digester was constructed for Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) treatment and methane gas capture for renewable energy. During the start-up operation period, the Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) accumulation could not be controlled and caused instability on the system., Approach: A settling tank was installed and sludge was recycled as to provide a balanced microorganisms population for the treatment of POME and methane gas production. The effect of sludge recycling rate was studied by applying Organic Loading Rates (OLR) (between 1.0 and 10.0 kgCOD m-3 day-1) at different sludge recycling rates (6, 12 and 18 m3 day-1)., Results: At sludge recycling rate of 18 m3 day-1, the maximum OLR was 10.0 kgCOD m-3 day-1 with biogas and methane productivity of 1.5 and 0.9 m3 m-3 day-1, respectively. By increasing the sludge recycling rate the VFA concentration was controlled below its inhibitory limit (1000 mg L-1) and the COD removal efficiency recorded was above 95% which indicated good treatment performance for the digester. Two methanogens species (Methanosarcina sp. and Methanosaeta concilii) had been identified from sludge samples obtained from the digester and recycled stream., Conclusion: By increasing the sludge recycling rate upon higher application of OLR, the treatment process was kept stable with high COD removal efficiency. The biogas and methane productivity were initially improved but reduced once OLR and recycling rate were increased to 10.0 kg COD m3 day-1 and 18 m3 day-1 respectively.

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is the largest contributor of biomass from the palm oil milling industry. Conventional method of POME treatment using ponding system should be improved because of huge land resource requirement. In this study, microbubbles technology was applied to understand the recovery rate of residual oil from POME at different operating temperatures. Temperature for POME was set at 27 oC, 30 oC and 50 oC to determine the microbubble size distributions and characteristics at different POME temperature. At each temperature, the size of microbubbles was measured based on six size range; 50 μm. The results showed that at different temperatures, the microbubbles size distribution varies and the smallest group of microbubbles (