Methodological Approaches to Optimising Anaerobic Digestion of Water Hyacinth for Energy Efficiency in South Africa

Obianuju Patience Ilo, Mulala Danny Simatele, S’phumelele Lucky Nkomo, Ntandoyenkosi Malusi Mkhize and Nagendra Gopinath Prabhu
Additional contact information
Obianuju Patience Ilo: Discipline of Geography and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Mulala Danny Simatele: The Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
S’phumelele Lucky Nkomo: Discipline of Geography and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Ntandoyenkosi Malusi Mkhize: Discipline of Chemical Engineering, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Nagendra Gopinath Prabhu: The Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Anaerobic digestion has been identified as a feasible fragment of a bioeconomy, yet numerous factors hinder the adoption of the technology in South Africa. Apart from its energy recovery, other nonmarket advantages support the technology. Though it may be challenging to have a price tag, they provide clear added worth for such investments. With a growing energy demand and global energy transitions, there is a need to sustainably commercialise the biogas industry in South Africa. Most studies are at laboratory scale and under specific conditions, which invariably create gaps in using their data for commercialising the biogas technology. The key to recognising these gaps depends on knowing the crucial technical phases that have the utmost outcome on the economics of biogas production. This study is a meta-analysis of the optimisation of anaerobic digestion through methodological approaches aimed at enhancing the production of biogas. This review, therefore, argues that regulating the fundamental operational parameters, understanding the microbial community’s interactions, and modelling the anaerobic processes are vital indicators for improving the process stability and methane yield for the commercialisation of the technology. It further argues that South Africa can exploit water hyacinth as a substrate for a self-sufficient biogas production system in a bid to mitigate the invasive alien plants.

Keywords: biogas; energy transition; water hyacinth; anaerobic digestion; optimisation; sustainable cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6746/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/12/6746/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:12:p:6746-:d:575055

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().