Agricultural wastes are readily available in farming communities and can be utilised for off-grid electrification as an alternative to diesel generators. This work evaluates for the first time the life cycle environmental sustainability of these small-scale systems in the context of Southeast Asia. Rice and coconut residues are considered for direct combustion and gasification, and livestock manure for anaerobic digestion. Overall, anaerobic digestion is the best option for 14 out of 18 impacts estimated through life cycle assessment.
In the last decades, energy scarcity has become an important issue globally. Renewable energy sources have gained importance due to limited fossil fuel reserves and increased concerns on climate change. In this regard, municipal wastewater is a remarkable energy source since huge amounts of wastewater are generated and treated all over the world every day. Conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, which has been in use for more than a century, is the most widely applied treatment method for municipal wastewater.
In the last decades, energy scarcity has become an important issue globally. Renewable energy sources have gained importance due to limited fossil fuel reserves and increased concerns on climate change. In this regard, municipal wastewater is a remarkable energy source since huge amounts of wastewater are generated and treated all over the world every day. Conventional activated sludge (CAS) process, which has been in use for more than a century, is the most widely applied treatment method for municipal wastewater.
Sustainable use and management of nutrients is an important issue for food, energy and water systems. The close connections between the three systems, reflected by the “nexus” concept, warrant an integrated approach to nutrients management across the nexus. In this paper, dynamic modelling of nutrient flows in a local food-energy-water system is presented and applied to a simplified case study.
Climate change, population growth and rapidly increasing urbanisation severely threaten water quantity and quality in Sub-Saharan Africa. Treating wastewater is necessary to preserve the water bodies; reusing treated wastewater appears a viable option that could help to address future water challenges. In areas already suffering energy poverty, the main barrier to wastewater treatment is the high electricity demand of most facilities.
