IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v166y2022ics1364032122005354.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biorefinery of anaerobic digestate in a circular bioeconomy: Opportunities, challenges and perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Malhotra, Milan
  • Aboudi, Kaoutar
  • Pisharody, Lakshmi
  • Singh, Ayush
  • Banu, J. Rajesh
  • Bhatia, Shashi Kant
  • Varjani, Sunita
  • Kumar, Sunil
  • González-Fernández, Cristina
  • Kumar, Sumant
  • Singh, Rajesh
  • Tyagi, Vinay Kumar

Abstract

With the ever-increasing size of anaerobic digesters (AD), the management and disposal of digestate have become a challenging task for AD operators. Anaerobic digestate is rich in nutrients and contaminants; thus, a suitable treatment is required to meet environmental legislation and protect the receiving environment. There has been a thrust among the research efforts in anaerobic digestate management in the last decade. Volarization of digestate into high-value products is necessary to make the AD process more cost-effective. Moreover, digestate utilization helps in recycling the already mined resources. Efforts have been made to use digestate as a feedstock to recover energy and value-added products such as nutrients (N, P), biochar, biofuels, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and algal cultivation, which can arguably help to enable the circular economy in modern communities. This communication thoroughly examines the anaerobic digestate-based biorefinery concept and its linkages with the circular bio-economy. This review comprehensively summarized digestate management practices; recovery of renewable fuels and other value-added products from digestate, including bottlenecks and perspectives altogether in digestate management and treatment. The state-of-the-art of commercialization of anaerobic digestate valorization technologies has also been provided. Overall, this review could support decision-makers in identifying environmentally sound and sustainable solutions ahead of time.

Suggested Citation

  • Malhotra, Milan & Aboudi, Kaoutar & Pisharody, Lakshmi & Singh, Ayush & Banu, J. Rajesh & Bhatia, Shashi Kant & Varjani, Sunita & Kumar, Sunil & González-Fernández, Cristina & Kumar, Sumant & Singh, R, 2022. "Biorefinery of anaerobic digestate in a circular bioeconomy: Opportunities, challenges and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122005354
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112642
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032122005354
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112642?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zuo, Zhuang & Wu, Shubiao & Qi, Xiangyang & Dong, Renjie, 2015. "Performance enhancement of leaf vegetable waste in two-stage anaerobic systems under high organic loading rate: Role of recirculation and hydraulic retention time," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 279-286.
    2. Tyagi, Vinay Kumar & Lo, Shang-Lien, 2013. "Microwave irradiation: A sustainable way for sludge treatment and resource recovery," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 288-305.
    3. Dahlin, Johannes & Herbes, Carsten & Nelles, Michael, 2015. "Biogas digestate marketing: Qualitative insights into the supply side," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA), pages 152-161.
    4. Barampouti, E.M. & Mai, S. & Malamis, D. & Moustakas, K. & Loizidou, M., 2020. "Exploring technological alternatives of nutrient recovery from digestate as a secondary resource," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    5. Fang, Wei & Zhang, Panyue & Zhang, Xuedong & Zhu, Xuefeng & van Lier, Jules B. & Spanjers, Henri, 2018. "White rot fungi pretreatment to advance volatile fatty acid production from solid-state fermentation of solid digestate: Efficiency and mechanisms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 534-541.
    6. Christine Alewell & Bruno Ringeval & Cristiano Ballabio & David A. Robinson & Panos Panagos & Pasquale Borrelli, 2020. "Global phosphorus shortage will be aggravated by soil erosion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Algapani, Dalal E. & Qiao, Wei & Ricci, Marina & Bianchi, Davide & M. Wandera, Simon & Adani, Fabrizio & Dong, Renjie, 2019. "Bio-hydrogen and bio-methane production from food waste in a two-stage anaerobic digestion process with digestate recirculation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1108-1115.
    8. Brémond, Ulysse & Bertrandias, Aude & Loisel, Denis & Jimenez, Julie & Steyer, Jean-Philippe & Bernet, Nicolas & Carrere, Hélène, 2020. "Assessment of fungal and thermo-alkaline post-treatments of solid digestate in a recirculation scheme to increase flexibility in feedstocks supply management of biogas plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 641-651.
    9. Yuan, Tian & Cheng, Yanfei & Zhang, Zhenya & Lei, Zhongfang & Shimizu, Kazuya, 2019. "Comparative study on hydrothermal treatment as pre- and post-treatment of anaerobic digestion of primary sludge: Focus on energy balance, resources transformation and sludge dewaterability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 171-180.
    10. Kiran R. Parmar & Andrew B. Ross, 2019. "Integration of Hydrothermal Carbonisation with Anaerobic Digestion; Opportunities for Valorisation of Digestate," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Jones, Philip & Salter, Andrew, 2013. "Modelling the economics of farm-based anaerobic digestion in a UK whole-farm context," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 215-225.
    12. Maria Rosaria Panuccio & Carmelo Mallamaci & Emilio Attinà & Adele Muscolo, 2021. "Using Digestate as Fertilizer for a Sustainable Tomato Cultivation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, February.
    13. Karl-Johan Bergstrand & Håkan Asp & Malin Hultberg, 2020. "Utilizing Anaerobic Digestates as Nutrient Solutions in Hydroponic Production Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Singh, Rajeev Pratap & Singh, Pooja & Araujo, Ademir S.F. & Hakimi Ibrahim, M. & Sulaiman, Othman, 2011. "Management of urban solid waste: Vermicomposting a sustainable option," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 719-729.
    15. Bibi, Riaz & Ahmad, Zulfiqar & Imran, Muhammad & Hussain, Sabir & Ditta, Allah & Mahmood, Shahid & Khalid, Azeem, 2017. "Algal bioethanol production technology: A trend towards sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 976-985.
    16. Cristiane Romio & Michael Vedel Wegener Kofoed & Henrik Bjarne Møller, 2021. "Digestate Post-Treatment Strategies for Additional Biogas Recovery: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    17. Rehl, T. & Müller, J., 2011. "Life cycle assessment of biogas digestate processing technologies," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 92-104.
    18. Agnieszka Urbanowska & Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz & Mateusz Wnukowski & Przemysław Seruga & Marcin Baranowski & Halina Pawlak-Kruczek & Monika Serafin-Tkaczuk & Krystian Krochmalny & Lukasz Niedzwi, 2020. "Treatment of Liquid By-Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) of Agricultural Digestate Using Membrane Separation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, January.
    19. Gioacchino Pappalardo & Roberta Selvaggi & Salvatore Bracco & Gaetano Chinnici & Biagio Pecorino, 2018. "Factors affecting purchasing process of digestate: evidence from an economic experiment on Sicilian farmers’ willingness to pay," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Mohammadi, Ali & Sandberg, Maria & Venkatesh, G. & Eskandari, Samieh & Dalgaard, Tommy & Joseph, Stephen & Granström, Karin, 2019. "Environmental performance of end-of-life handling alternatives for paper-and-pulp-mill sludge: Using digestate as a source of energy or for biochar production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 594-605.
    21. Li, YuQian & Liu, ChunMei & Wachemo, Akiber Chufo & Li, XiuJin, 2018. "Effects of liquid fraction of digestate recirculation on system performance and microbial community structure during serial anaerobic digestion of completely stirred tank reactors for corn stover," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 309-317.
    22. Pecchi, Matteo & Baratieri, Marco, 2019. "Coupling anaerobic digestion with gasification, pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 462-475.
    23. Qin, Yu & Wu, Jing & Xiao, Benyi & Cong, Ming & Hojo, Toshimasa & Cheng, Jun & Li, Yu-You, 2019. "Strategy of adjusting recirculation ratio for biohythane production via recirculated temperature-phased anaerobic digestion of food waste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1235-1245.
    24. Bipasyana Dhungana & Sunil Prasad Lohani & Michael Marsolek, 2022. "Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste with Livestock Manure at Ambient Temperature: A Biogas Based Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tsigkou, Konstantina & Sventzouri, Eirini & Zafiri, Constantina & Kornaros, Michael, 2023. "Digestate recirculation rate optimization for the enhancement of hydrogen production: The case of disposable nappies and fruit/vegetable waste valorization in a mesophilic two-stage anaerobic digestio," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    2. Luca Attene & Andrea Deiana & Alessandra Carucci & Giorgia De Gioannis & Fabiano Asunis & Claudio Ledda, 2022. "Efficient Nitrogen Recovery from Agro-Energy Effluents for Cyanobacteria Cultivation ( Spirulina )," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aragón-Briceño, C.I. & Pozarlik, A.K. & Bramer, E.A. & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Pawlak-Kruczek, H. & Brem, G., 2021. "Hydrothermal carbonization of wet biomass from nitrogen and phosphorus approach: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 401-415.
    2. Magdziarz, Aneta & Mlonka-Mędrala, Agata & Sieradzka, Małgorzata & Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Pożarlik, Artur & Bramer, Eddy A. & Brem, Gerrit & Niedzwiecki, Łukasz & Pawlak-Kruczek, Halina, 2021. "Multiphase analysis of hydrochars obtained by anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste organic fraction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 108-118.
    3. Cristiane Romio & Michael Vedel Wegener Kofoed & Henrik Bjarne Møller, 2021. "Digestate Post-Treatment Strategies for Additional Biogas Recovery: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    4. Aaron E. Brown & Jessica M. M. Adams & Oliver R. Grasham & Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero & Andrew B. Ross, 2020. "An Assessment of Different Integration Strategies of Hydrothermal Carbonisation and Anaerobic Digestion of Water Hyacinth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-26, November.
    5. Gregor Sailer & Julian Comi & Florian Empl & Martin Silberhorn & Valeska Heymann & Monika Bosilj & Siham Ouardi & Stefan Pelz & Joachim Müller, 2022. "Hydrothermal Treatment of Residual Forest Wood (Softwood) and Digestate from Anaerobic Digestion—Influence of Temperature and Holding Time on the Characteristics of the Solid and Liquid Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-26, May.
    6. Bolzonella, D. & Battista, F. & Mattioli, A. & Nicolato, C. & Frison, N. & Lampis, S., 2020. "Biological thermophilic post hydrolysis of digestate enhances the biogas production in the anaerobic digestion of agro-waste," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    7. Urbanowska, Agnieszka & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Wnukowski, Mateusz & Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Małgorzata & Baranowski, Marcin & Czerep, Michał & Seruga, Przemysław & Pawlak-Krucze, 2023. "Recovery of chemical energy from retentates from cascade membrane filtration of hydrothermal carbonisation effluent," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    8. Azman, Samet & Milh, Hannah & Somers, Matthijs H. & Zhang, Huili & Huybrechts, Ine & Meers, Erik & Meesschaert, Boudewijn & Dewil, Raf & Appels, Lise, 2020. "Ultrasound-assisted digestate treatment of manure digestate for increased biogas production in small pilot scale anaerobic digesters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 664-673.
    9. Małgorzata Wilk & Marcin Gajek & Maciej Śliz & Klaudia Czerwińska & Lidia Lombardi, 2022. "Hydrothermal Carbonization Process of Digestate from Sewage Sludge: Chemical and Physical Properties of Hydrochar in Terms of Energy Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Agnieszka Urbanowska & Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz & Christian Aragon-Briceño & Mateusz Wnukowski & Artur Pożarlik & Lukasz Niedzwiecki & Marcin Baranowski & Michał Czerep & Przemysław Seruga & Hali, 2021. "Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    11. Pecchi, Matteo & Patuzzi, Francesco & Benedetti, Vittoria & Di Maggio, Rosa & Baratieri, Marco, 2020. "Kinetic analysis of hydrothermal carbonization using high-pressure differential scanning calorimetry applied to biomass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    12. Tsigkou, Konstantina & Sventzouri, Eirini & Zafiri, Constantina & Kornaros, Michael, 2023. "Digestate recirculation rate optimization for the enhancement of hydrogen production: The case of disposable nappies and fruit/vegetable waste valorization in a mesophilic two-stage anaerobic digestio," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    13. Dahlin, Johannes & Herbes, Carsten & Nelles, Michael, 2015. "Biogas digestate marketing: Qualitative insights into the supply side," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 104(PA), pages 152-161.
    14. Dahlin, Johannes & Nelles, Michael & Herbes, Carsten, 2017. "Biogas digestate management: Evaluating the attitudes and perceptions of German gardeners towards digestate-based soil amendments," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 27-38.
    15. Wojciech Rzeźnik & Ilona Rzeźnik & Paulina Mielcarek-Bocheńska & Mateusz Urbański, 2023. "Air Pollutants Emission during Co-Combustion of Animal Manure and Wood Pellets in 15 kW Boiler," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Dilvin Cebi & Melih Soner Celiktas & Hasan Sarptas, 2022. "A Review on Sewage Sludge Valorization via Hydrothermal Carbonization and Applications for Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 1345-1367, December.
    17. Whiting, Andrew & Azapagic, Adisa, 2014. "Life cycle environmental impacts of generating electricity and heat from biogas produced by anaerobic digestion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 181-193.
    18. Rose Daphnee Tchonkouang & Helen Onyeaka & Taghi Miri, 2023. "From Waste to Plate: Exploring the Impact of Food Waste Valorisation on Achieving Zero Hunger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, July.
    19. Foteini Sakaveli & Maria Petala & Vasilios Tsiridis & Efthymios Darakas, 2024. "Enhancing Methane Yield in Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Primary Sewage Sludge: A Comprehensive Review on Potential Additives and Strategies," Waste, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-29, January.
    20. Tiago Teribele & Maria Elizabeth Gemaque Costa & Conceição de Maria Sales da Silva & Lia Martins Pereira & Lucas Pinto Bernar & Douglas Alberto Rocha de Castro & Fernanda Paula da Costa Assunção & Mar, 2023. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover: Structural Evolution of Hydro-Char and Degradation Kinetics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122005354. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.