Title: Biochemenergy: a project to turn an urban wastes treatment plant into biorefinery for the production of energy, chemicals and consumer's products with friendly environmental impact

Authors: Enzo Montoneri; Davide Mainero; Vittorio Boffa; Daniele G. Perrone; Corrado Montoneri

Addresses: Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Chimica Organica, Corso Massimo d'Azeglio 48, 10125 Torino, Italy. ' ACEA Pinerolese Industriale SpA, Via Vigone 42, 10064 Pinerolo, Italy. ' Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Chimica Organica, Corso Massimo d'Azeglio 48, 10125, Torino, Italy. ' Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Chimica Organica, Corso Massimo d'Azeglio 48, 10125, Torino, Italy. ' Dimorfipa, Università di Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra, 50, 40064 Ozzano dell'Emilia, Italy

Abstract: Urban bio-wastes (UBW) contain soluble bio-organics (SBO) with excellent surfactant properties are proven or expected to perform as bio-based products for use in chemical and environmental technology, in agriculture and in animal husbandry as well as or better than commercial synthetic products. On these basis, UBW are proposed as renewable sources of a wide number of products with potential sale value ranging from one to several tens € kg?1. The expected economical and environmental impacts of scaling up the laboratory result to production and commercial level are evaluated based on a virtual scenario which comprises integration of SBO production technology into a waste management plant treating UBW by aerobic and anaerobic microbial digestion according to the current technology. The results point out that the integrated plant selling biogas and SBO is likely to yield six times higher earnings than the current plant whose revenue comes from biogas and compost.

Keywords: urban wastes; biorefineries; anaerobic digestion; biosurfactants; bio-based products; biowaste; waste management; biogas; soluble bio-organics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2011.043528

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2011 Vol.11 No.2, pp.170 - 196

Published online: 23 Oct 2014 *

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