Seasonal celebrations cause spikes in certain food waste, which can either rot in landfill or be fed as a slurry to the microorganisms responsible for producing biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD). However, microbes are picky, and efficient AD requires a balanced diet.  

This presents a challenge to the producers of biogas and biomethane, who prepare for a sudden influx of carbohydrate-heavy pumpkin waste in October and a spike in general food waste at Christmas.

In landfill, the un-trapped gases produced by decomposing food go into the atmosphere, contributing between 8% and 10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental charity Hubbub tells Offshore Technology that “between 15 and 22 million pumpkins are bought, carved and thrown away uneaten in the UK annually”, eventually rotting in landfill and releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. 

Read more in Power Technology here.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.