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Turning Food Waste into Biofuel

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Recycling of Solid Waste for Biofuels and Bio-chemicals

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Abstract

Food waste (FW) causes economic and environmental problems worldwide. Currently, most food waste is landfilled or incinerated for possible energy recovery. However, these methods have serious adverse effects on the environment. FW is nutritionally rich and offers a unique microbial feedstock for the production of numerous valuable bioproducts. The aim of this review is to investigate the technologies used to convert FW to forms of renewable energy such as biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen and methane. Life-cycle assessment is performed to examine and compare the environmental effects of various methods of FW conversion.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Hong Kong Early Career Start/General Research Fund (ECS/GRF 845212).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong

    Wen-Jing Deng

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  1. Wen-Jing Deng
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Correspondence to Wen-Jing Deng .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

    Obulisamy Parthiba Karthikeyan

  2. James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

    Kirsten Heimann

  3. SGS Hong Kong Limited, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

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Deng, WJ. (2016). Turning Food Waste into Biofuel. In: Karthikeyan, O., Heimann, K., Muthu, S. (eds) Recycling of Solid Waste for Biofuels and Bio-chemicals. Environmental Footprints and Eco-design of Products and Processes. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0150-5_13

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