Title: Current status of anaerobic digestion of food waste in the United States

Journal Article · · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Utilization of food waste (FW) and food processing waste streams in waste-to-energy technologies has increased over the years in United States (US). This review paper compiled information from published literature and open data sources to obtain a holistic view of the current state of FW availability and its management using anaerobic digestion (AD). The review examined the usage of FW as a feedstock for AD by considering the feedstock composition and availability of FW in the US as well as challenges and opportunities with implementing FW in mono- and co-digestion. Also presented are global trends in FW digestion and the current status of FW codigestion in the US. FW in the US was characterized with regard to volume and composition to show a need for waste management and an opportunity for valuable resource recovery. Challenges and opportunities of processing via AcoD were presented to review best practices for successful operations. Environmental standards, economic incentives, and governmental policies in the US and around the world regarding waste management and utilization were discussed to identify barriers and sources of opportunity for large-scale implementation of AcoD. Additionally, a range of facilities throughout the US was examined for information regarding digestion type, feedstock (s), biogas production and utilization, and energy self-sufficiency to better understand the current status of FW digestion. Several US facilities were outlined as case studies that co-digest FW and produce and utilize biogas for various applications. Future strategies, perspectives, and roadmaps were discussed to elucidate the shaping of future FW management practices.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1836232
Journal Information:
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Journal Name: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Vol. 151; ISSN 1364-0321
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (81)

Effects of free long-chain fatty acids on thermophilic anaerobic digestion journal September 1992
Conversion of waste cooking oil into biogas: perspectives and limits journal February 2020
The economic and environmental benefits analysis for food waste anaerobic treatment: a case study in Beijing journal February 2019
Process stability and microbial community composition in pig manure and food waste anaerobic co-digesters operated at low HRTs journal April 2017
Biogas Production from Anaerobic Co-digestion of Food Waste with Dairy Manure in a Two-Phase Digestion System journal February 2009
An Insight into the Anaerobic Co-digestion of Municipal Solid Waste and Food Waste: Influence of Co-substrate Mixture Ratio and Substrate to Inoculum Ratio on Biogas Production journal September 2018
Effect of Oil Content on Biogas Production, Process Performance and Stability of Food Waste Anaerobic Digestion journal December 2017
Experimental investigation on anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and water hyacinth in batch type reactor under mesophilic condition journal November 2019
Current State of Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Wastes in North America journal October 2015
Carbon/nitrogen-ratio effect on fermentative hydrogen production by mixed microflora journal January 2004
Political, economic and environmental impacts of biofuels: A review journal November 2009
Pretreatment methods to enhance anaerobic digestion of organic solid waste journal June 2014
Biogas production through syntrophic acetate oxidation and deliberate operating strategies for improved digester performance journal October 2016
Comprehensive evaluation of environ-economic benefits of anaerobic digestion technology in an integrated food waste-based methane plant using a fuzzy mathematical model journal December 2017
Effects of volatile fatty acid concentrations on methane yield and methanogenic bacteria journal May 2009
Methanogenic activity optimization using the response surface methodology, during the anaerobic co-digestion of agriculture and industrial wastes. Microbial community diversity journal December 2014
Co-digestion of press water and food waste in a biowaste digester for improvement of biogas production journal September 2010
A comparison study on the high-rate co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste using a temperature-phased anaerobic sequencing batch reactor system journal August 2011
Methanosarcina: The rediscovered methanogen for heavy duty biomethanation journal May 2012
Anaerobic digestion of food waste for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production with different types of inoculum: Effect of pH journal June 2014
Anaerobic digestion of food waste through the operation of a mesophilic two-phase pilot scale digester – Assessment of variable loadings on system performance journal February 2015
Simultaneous enhancement of methane production and methane content in biogas from waste activated sludge and perennial ryegrass anaerobic co-digestion: The effects of pH and C/N ratio journal September 2016
Biohydrogen production from food waste: Current status, limitations, and future perspectives journal January 2018
Anaerobic bioconversion of food waste into energy: A critical review journal January 2018
Anaerobic digestion for bioenergy production: Global status, environmental and techno-economic implications, and government policies journal January 2018
Anaerobic digestion of food waste – Challenges and opportunities journal January 2018
Pretreatment of food waste for methane and hydrogen recovery: A review journal February 2018
Current status of food waste generation and management in China journal February 2019
Interactions between substrate characteristics and microbial communities on biogas production yield and rate journal May 2020
Interactive effects of carbohydrate, lipid, protein composition and carbon/nitrogen ratio on biogas production of different food wastes journal September 2020
Arrested methanogenesis digestion of high-strength cheese whey and brewery wastewater with carboxylic acid production journal July 2021
Effects of temperature, proportion and organic loading rate on the performance of anaerobic digestion of food waste journal September 2020
Enhancement of biogas production in anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and waste activated sludge by biological co-pretreatment journal October 2017
Correlations between microbial community and C:N:P stoichiometry during the anaerobic digestion process journal May 2019
Total and per capita value of food loss in the United States journal October 2012
Food waste accounting methodologies: Challenges, opportunities, and further advancements journal March 2019
Effects of particle size on anaerobic digestion of food waste journal October 2010
What is the true value of food waste? A case study of technology integration in urban food waste treatment in Suzhou City, China journal April 2016
Life cycle assessment of the present and proposed food waste management technologies from environmental and economic impact perspectives journal September 2016
Anaerobic digestion based waste-to-energy technologies can halve the climate impact of China’s fast-growing food waste by 2040 journal December 2020
Enhanced anaerobic digestion of food waste by thermal and ozonation pretreatment methods journal December 2014
Nutrients recovery from anaerobic digestate of agro-waste: Techno-economic assessment of full scale applications journal June 2018
Environmental sustainability of anaerobic digestion of household food waste journal April 2019
Principles and potential of the anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge journal December 2008
Bioreactor performance in anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable wastes journal March 2005
Biogas: Developments and perspectives in Europe journal December 2018
Effect of ammonia on methane production, methanogenesis pathway, microbial community and reactor performance under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions journal September 2018
Anaerobic digestion in global bio-energy production: Potential and research challenges journal December 2011
Process characteristics, inhibition factors and methane yields of anaerobic digestion process, with particular focus on microalgal biomass fermentation journal June 2014
Reviewing the anaerobic digestion of food waste for biogas production journal October 2014
Challenges and strategies for solid-state anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass journal April 2015
An overview of biogas production and utilization at full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States: Challenges and opportunities towards energy-neutral WWTPs journal October 2015
Anaerobic co-digestion process for biogas production: Progress, challenges and perspectives journal September 2017
Full scale co-digestion of wastewater sludge and food waste: Bottlenecks and possibilities journal May 2017
A review of global strategies promoting the conversion of food waste to bioenergy via anaerobic digestion journal November 2017
Technology overview of biogas production in anaerobic digestion plants: A European evaluation of research and development journal December 2017
Towards utmost bioenergy conversion efficiency of food waste: Pretreatment, co-digestion, and reactor type journal July 2018
Anaerobic digestion of food waste for bio-energy production in China and Southeast Asia: A review journal November 2020
Dimensions and characteristics of biogas policies – Modelling the European policy landscape journal January 2021
Expanding the anaerobic digestion map: A review of intermediates in the digestion of food waste journal May 2021
Anaerobic digestion: An alternative resource treatment option for food waste in China journal July 2021
Sustainable food waste management model for Bangladesh journal July 2021
Food waste-to-energy conversion technologies: Current status and future directions journal April 2015
Effect of initial pH on anaerobic co-digestion of kitchen waste and cow manure journal April 2015
Beyond land application: Emerging technologies for the treatment and reuse of anaerobically digested agricultural and food waste journal October 2015
Synergism of co-digestion of food wastes with municipal wastewater treatment biosolids journal March 2017
Life cycle environmental impacts of substituting food wastes for traditional anaerobic digestion feedstocks journal March 2018
A comparative study of thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and wheat straw: Process stability and microbial community structure shifts journal May 2018
Environmental impacts of food waste in Europe journal July 2018
Anaerobic digestion of food waste – Effect of recirculation and temperature on performance and microbiology journal June 2016
Effect of Organic Loading Rate on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste under Mesophilic and Thermophilic Conditions journal February 2017
Biomethane potential of food waste: modeling the effects of mild thermal pretreatment and digestion temperature journal September 2016
Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and methane from food waste and cow slurry: Comparison of biogas and VFA fermentation processes journal September 2018
The Economics of Dairy Anaerobic Digestion with Coproduct Marketing journal September 2009
Food Waste to Energy: An Overview of Sustainable Approaches for Food Waste Management and Nutrient Recycling journal January 2017
Mechanism, kinetics and microbiology of inhibition caused by long-chain fatty acids in anaerobic digestion of algal biomass journal September 2015
Ammonia, a selective agent for methane production by syntrophic acetate oxidation at mesophilic temperature journal April 2008
Reviewing the Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste: From Waste Generation and Anaerobic Process to Its Perspectives journal October 2018
A Review of the Processes, Parameters, and Optimization of Anaerobic Digestion journal October 2018
Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Wastewater Sludge: A Review of Potential Co-Substrates and Operating Factors for Improved Methane Yield journal January 2020
Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) Assay Method for Anaerobic Digestion Research journal May 2019