Measurements of Methane Emissions from a Biofertilizer Storage Tank Using Ground-Based Hyperspectral Imaging and Flux Chambers.

Open storages of organic material represent potentially large sources of the greenhouse gas methane (CH), an emissions source that will likely become more common as a part of societal efforts toward sustainability. Hence, monitoring and minimizing CH emissions from such facilities are key, but effective assessment of emissions without disturbing the flux is challenging. We demonstrate the capacity of using a novel high-resolution hyperspectral camera to perform sensitive CH flux assessments at such facilities, using as a test case a biofertilizer storage tank for residual material from a biogas plant.

Methane losses from different biogas plant technologies.

Biogas and biomethane production can play an important role in a fossil-fuel-free energy supply, provided that process-related methane (CH) losses are minimized. Addressing the lack of representative emission data, this study aims to provide component specific CH emission factors (EFs) for various biogas plant technologies, enabling more accurate emission estimates for the biogas sector and supporting the identification of low emission technologies. Four measurement teams investigated 33 biogas plants in Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland including mainly agricultural and biowaste treating facilities.

Pretreatment of paper tube residuals for improved biogas production.

Paper tube residuals, which are lignocellulosic wastes, have been studied as substrate for biogas (methane) production. Steam explosion and nonexplosive hydrothermal pretreatment, in combination with sodium hydroxide and/or hydrogen peroxide, have been used to improve the biogas production. The treatment conditions of temperature, time and addition of NaOH and H(2)O(2) were statistically evaluated for methane production.