Biogas generation from different organic waste: Case studies of Bioremediation and community development in Argentina and Dominican Republic

Colombo C.V.; Rodriguez Cuevas A. · Proceedings of the LACCEI international Multi-conference for Engineering, Education and Technology (2020) · DOI: 10.18687/laccei2020.1.1.211

Resumen

Wet biomass has great potential to generate energy, if viewed as a resource instead of a waste. In the last 30 years, biodigestion technology has been developed and spread throughout Latin America, allowing biogas to be obtained from different wastes having a moisture content greater than 60%. Even so, many projects have failed due to great ignorance and negligence when designing and operating biodigesters. In Argentina, the center region has much in common with the area of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: the high availability of biomass and freshwater, in addition to the need to generate biogas in places that are off the natural gas network. This paper presents the study of different case studies in both countries, analyzing different variables. The substrates used are different residues found in each place, and in particular, bioremediation of sargassum is applied in the Dominican Republic. Access to training and support for the operators of biodigesters is another analysis variable. This work shows how the use of local resources and working together with the community guarantees the success of the operation of biodigesters, in addition to promoting community development.