Long-life performance of biogas systems for productive applications: The role of R&D and policy

In order to achieve the transformations required to realize sustainable development, the use of modern renewable energy has to increasingly take primacy. Biogas technology is one of listed modern RETs but despite its early introduction in Uganda, its adoption rate remains very low amidst high technology failure and dis-adoption. To investigate this, a field-based assessment was conducted to evaluate performance of productive biogas installations with an aim of determining the root cause of this poor performance. It was found out that over 50% of productive biogas installations failed within two years after their commissioning due to logistical and technological challenges. Most installations could not sustain biogas production due to deprived quality of digester feed, and lack of local technical data to utilize alternatives during scarcity of the primary feedstock. Insufficient R&D in the biogas sector is suggested to be the lead cause of such poor performance. Therefore, novel policy strategies for promoting R&D have been proposed in this paper because for success of any productive biogas system, optimization of energy recovery through R&D must be at the forefront in order to drive system outputs to better economic gain

Life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from selected second-generation feedstocks

Biodiesel has the potential to substitute conventional diesel and reduce global transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the environmental impacts of biodiesel production from three East African second-generation feedstocks: Castor (Ricinus Communis), Croton Megalocarpus, and Jatropha, were assessed in comparison with petroleum-diesel. Inventory data analyzed was obtained from primary and secondary sources in Uganda and existing literature. Life Cycle Assessment methodology was applied in accordance with ISO 14040. Reductions in global warming and human toxicity potentials of up to 7% for B10 biodiesel blends relative to imported petroleum diesel were obtained. Similar reductions were obtained for the other assessed mid-point impact categories. Though relatively very low in absolute terms, this reduction rate is in sync with the target annual reductions of 7.6% and 2.7% required to meet the Paris Agreement temperature targets of 1.5 °C and 2 °C respectively. Transesterification accounted for about 70% of the biodiesel production carbon footprints. Sensitivity analysis revealed that feedstock seed yield per ha is a key determinant of biodiesel's life cycle environmental performance. This study established that B10 from second-generation feedstocks is environmentally more competitive than petroleum-diesel from a life cycle perspective