In the project, they hope to use compost to produce methane to be used as fuel.
A student who throws away food at Ohio University may just be contributing to OU’s newest fuel source.
University researchers believe they will be able to produce methane from extra compost and food waste, which may then be utilized as fuel.
Sarah Davis, assistant professor of environmental studies at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, heads a project with OU researchers and students to see if creating the extra fuel source will be possible.
“Methane can be used as fuel and is a product of bacterial decomposition of organic matter under certain conditions,” Davis said. “We want to resolve the perfect conditions for bacteria to make this methane using food waste, yard waste and rainwater.”
Once waste goes through the process of composting, it is laid out behind the composting facility in •The Ridges, where it decomposes and releases greenhouse gases.
The researchers plan to use an anaerobic digester to capture the greenhouse gases. In the digester, food waste and yard waste are mixed with rainwater. Bacteria that help produce methane will also be introduced to the system.
OU awarded Davis with $75,000 from the 1804 Fund to build the anaerobic digester near the composting facility.
“We will experiment with temperature control, moisture levels and chemical compositions to determine optimum conditions for methane production,” Davis said in an email.
Normal composting typically results in the production of carbon dioxide.
However, the goal of the current project is to create more methane since it can be used as a fuel source, Davis said.
Unlike typical composting methods, anaerobic digesters do not use oxygen. This in turn should help produce more methane, Davis said.
“Energy systems, waste management and agriculture all contribute to greenhouse gas emission, and we are working toward an integrated system that will instead reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases,” Davis said.
She is also working with Ben Stuart, a professor of civil engineering in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, to try to find the most efficient way to use the digester.
Stuart currently works with anaerobic digestion and has been working to find some of the most effective mixes, he said.
Once methane from the digester is compressed, the plan is to use the gas to run a small generator, said Kim Miller, a Voinovich School research scientist.
Byproducts from methane generation could be used for fertilizers in agriculture and greenhouse settings, Davis said.
Miller said they hope to use the byproducts to grow things such as lettuce and herbs.
“Accomplishing these goals will allow us to resolve a strategy for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.
If the composting facility can make enough gas, Miller said she is hopeful they could use it as fuel for cars.
“A small fleet of university vehicles could be run on that instead of fossil fuels because cars can run on methane,” she said. “It might be a really good way to use our food waste in a sustainable way.”
Researchers plan on running the digester as part of the project for approximately a year, Stuart said.
“We as a society produce a lot of waste materials,” he said. “We want to minimize waste and use it in a beneficial way.”
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