Biogas as an option for a low carbon campus: a case study at AIT | |
| Author | Wipawan Thammachataree |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-11-05 |
| Subject(s) | Biogas--Thailand--Pathum Thani Greenhouse gas mitigation--Thailand--Pathum Thani |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Energy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Due to the limited fossil fuel sources, Thailand has been importing oil and natural gas to meet its growing energy demand. A constant rise of oil price in the last few decades significantly increases burden on Thai people. Alternative energy sources such as biomass, including recovering energy from organic wastes, have been considered as a solution to lessen energy crisis. An academic community like AIT which generates a large amount of food waste has potential to convert such waste into energy in the form of biogas. This study investigated waste management setup at AIT, estimated the food waste generated, identified suitable digester technologies, and evaluated the financial viability of installing the biogas plant. It is found that 50% of solid waste is s food waste and the main sources of food waste are restaurants and residences. Restaurants generates approximately 180 kg/day of food waste and of which about 70 kg/day is disposed to the landfill and the rest is fed to animals. Residential sector generates about 1,203kg/day of food waste. The current amount of food waste generated has the potential to produce about 70-107 m3per day of biogas, however due to the lower level of waste separation, only 50-70 m3/day of biogas is y expected to be generated. Nine commercial anaerobic digestion plants including wet and dry processes were visited and difficulties and challenges of operation of these systems were studied. Wet and dry processes provide similar biogas yield but the dry process requires less pre-treatment and wet process has less investment. In term of operation, dry process is the most preferable followed by one stage and two stage digestion respectively. Financial analysis of three digestions found that the viability of biogas project in AIT depended highly on subsidy and LPG price. The employment of a worker for system operation reduced IRR from 11.5% to 2%. Based on financial aspect, the three most feasible options are one stage, two stage and dry process respectively. GHG mitigation from LPG substitution and waste reduction is 771 tCO2e/year. However, biogas combustion emits about 63 tCO2e/year. Thus, Net GHG mitigation is 708 tCO2e/year. CDM implementation is not feasible because the investment for getting approval for CDM is higher than the benefits from the project. |
| Year | 2011 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Salam, Abdul P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kumar, Sivanappan.;Visvanathan, C.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2011 |