Course No: GHT – 402

Course Name: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY

Group Assignment
on

Environment friendly Biogas Plants in rural areas of

Bangladesh: GHG emission and climate change perspective

Submitted to:

Professor Dr Subrota Kumar Saha

Department of Geology
University of Dhaka

Date of Submission: 20-12-2020

 Submitted by –

Name Roll
Noushin Akter Tisha RH-070-005
Mohammad Solaiman SH-070-019
Mahmudul Hasan SH-070-036
Raya Tarannum SK-070-038
 Environment friendly Biogas Plants in rural areas of Bangladesh: GHG
emission and climate change perspective

Currently the main source of energy generation is non-renewable fossil fuels which emit greenhouse
gas (GHG) into the atmosphere causing changes in global climate conditions. Biogas production can
balance the emissions of GHGs in a number of ways. In developing countries, with excellent planning,
biogas can play a vital role of renewable energy in local or rural communities.

Biogas Plant:
A biogas plant is a closed system where biogas is produced by the bacterial degradation of biomass
under anaerobic conditions. Biomass used for biogas production is mainly substrate of farm origin such
as liquid manure, feed waste, harvest waste and energy crops such as maize, various grasses etc. Due
to the very wide range of input materials, a significant amount of energy can be produced with biogas
plants.
Certain basic conditions such as absence of air (anaerobic atmosphere), uniform temperature (32°-
42°C) optimum nutrient supply, optimum and uniform pH (slightly above neutral, not too high or too
low) are must to enable the bacteria to degrade the substrate efficiently. The fermentation residue left
over from the substrates at the end of the process can be used as fertilizer.
There are two types of biogas plants, one is fixed dome type and the other is floating dome type. Fixed
dome type biogas plants are less expensive and more permanent consists of an underground pit or
chamber (digester). This digester chamber is connected to an inlet tank and a hydraulic chamber.
Biomass is fed through the inlet tank into the digester where biogas is produced in absence of oxygen.
The residue biomass after generating biogas is passed on to the hydraulic chamber and finally into an
outlet pit for using as fertilizer. The produced biogas is stored at the top of the digester due to low
density and can be easily used through a pipeline system.

Figure: Biogas plant diagram

Biogas:
Biogas is a sustainable source of renewable energy and a blessing in rural or poorer areas due to the low
cost of set-up and the availability of waste materials. Biogas is a colourless combustible gas but it
produces blue coloured flame when burnt. It burns at about 800 degrees centigrade. The main
component of biogas is flammable methane (CH4). Depending on the substrate digested in the biogas
plant, the methane content of the biogas fluctuates between 50% and 75%. The second main component
of biogas is carbon dioxide (CO2) with a share between 25% and 50%. Other components of biogas are
water (H2O), oxygen (O2) and traces of sulfur (S2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Typical composition of biogas

Compound name Formula Amount (%)

Methane CH4 50–75

Carbon dioxide CO2 25–50

Nitrogen N2 0–10

Hydrogen H2 0–1

Hydrogen sulfide H2S 0.1 –0.5

Oxygen O2 0-0.5

Carbon Monoxide CO 0-0.3

For the anaerobic digestion process, firstly biomass like energy crops, rice husk and other organic
garages are crushed into smaller pieces (uniform particle size of 5-10 mm) and slurrified by adding
liquid. The most common bio-waste cattle dung or poultry droppings are mixed with water in equal
volumetric ratio (1:1) before inserting. It takes about three to two weeks for actual biogas production
through anaerobic digestion in large tanks.

Two key processes: mesophilic and thermophilic digestions are involved in biogas production. Biogas
plants feeding on agricultural byproducts such as liquid manure, harvest residue and energy crops often
employ a single-step process in the mesophilic (32°– 42°C) temperature range with wet fermentation
and quasi-continuous feeding. In the thermophilic digestion temperature range is 45°–57°C which
speeds up degradation and improves the health status of the substrate.

To attain natural gas quality, the crude biogas from the biogas plant need to be processed in a processing
plant which means that substances such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur need to be
filtered out. Firstly, water vapor saturated biogas is desulfurized and dried by cooling. After treatment
to natural gas grade, biogas can be used in all applications commonly known for natural gas.
Industrial biogas is produced either as landfill gas (LFG) or as digested gas.
Biogas produces enough heat for cooking without any mess and dirt. It is also suitable for lightning and
for running small generators to produce electricity. Biogas can also be used as transportation fuel after
treatment.

Bangladesh Perspective:

Bangladesh, only 5% of total population can be able to get the benefits of natural gas coming through
pipelines and 4 to 5% of the rural households use kerosene for cooking. But the maximum rural
population of Bangladesh is depending on biomass, crop residues, plant debris, and animal dung and
wood as the main energy sources which are directly responsible for the deforestation, flood, soil erosion
etc.
Bangladesh is an agriculture country where almost 85% of the total population live in rural area and are
associated with agricultural activities. This vast portion of our total population use traditional energy
resource and biogas is their primary household energy or fuel sources. Biogas plants has been used as
a suitable and substitute energy supplement in rural areas.
Bangladesh has a suitable climate for biogas production. The ideal temperature for biogas is around
35oC. The temperature in Bangladesh usually varies from 6 oC to 40oC, but the internal temperature of
a biogas digester in Bangladesh usually remains at 22oC to 30oC, which is very near to the optimum
requirement.
The first biogas plant (floating dome type, size of 3m3 digester volume) of Bangladesh was constructed
in 1972. Although the gradual development of biogas technology in Bangladesh has gained sincere and
severe attention since the year 2000. Since then, biogas plants have been growing so rapidly that it can
be demonstrated as one of the fast growing renewable energy technologies in Bangladesh and until now,
71,396 biogas plants are currently in operation in different villages in different parts of Bangladesh. Till
December 2019, IDCOL has financed construction of over 53,200 biogas plants all over the country.
Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) has made the most significant
contribution in implementing and funding a number of 22,000 plants by 2009. Other public agencies
have also made noteworthy approach. Besides Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Thailand and many
other developing countries widely use biogas technology as it is very simple, affordable as well as cost
effective.

Fig: A fixed dome biogas plant in rural area of Bangladesh

The temporal increment in biogas plant till the year 2015 in Bangladesh is shown below:

Fig: Year-wise cumulative number of biogas digester

The basic of biogas technology is to convert the biomass into biogas. It has been mainly popularized
and promoted in rural areas as an approach towards more scientific way of harnessing biomass. Biomass
fuel type includes local agricultural residue (rice hulls, rice straw, jute stick etc), cow dung, twigs &
leaves, fuel woods etc. Biomasses that used in producing biogas can be preliminarily categorized into
3 type:
1. Agriculture derived (agriculture residue)
2. Livestock derived (animal dung)
3. Forest derived (fire woods and leaves)
Rural Bangladesh is ideal for practicing biogas technology because of its dependence on greenery, hot
and humid climate as well as the poor infrastructure of those areas with minimal income level of people.
Also, the raw materials that are needed to produce biogas such as cattle dungs, poultry droppings,
agricultural residue, forest residues, water hyacinths and other organic wastes are readily available in
almost all of the rural households. Amongst all, cow dung is used most widely as raw material. It is
estimated that there is an approximate number of 20 million cattle in Bangladesh. These cattle produce
near about 242 million kg of cattle dung each day. These dungs can make up a potential of production
of 105 billion cubic feet of biogas at a rate of 1.3 cubic feet of gas per kg of dung. Even if half the total
amount is taken into account, that is 50% of the waste, about 1.36 million of biogas digester with a
capacity of 3 cubic m could be set up for biogas production.
A table showing the annual gas production from different biogas components are as follows:

Fig: Annual gas production by different raw materials of biogas plants

Biogas plants are cheap and they are more permanent. For a family of 7 persons, approximately 105
cubic feet of biogas plant would need 5 to 6 cows to supply the adequate amount of cow dung which is
50 kg per day. The plant would need an estimated amount of 14,500 takas to be built and would have a
working life of about 30 years with a very little or no maintenance expenditures. It is thereby the main
source of fuel for household cooking and also can be used for lighting purposes. It is environment
friendly as it permits a cleaner environment in the household by using up all the biomass materials that
are generally responsible for some messy and dirty surroundings in the rural areas of Bangladesh.
Although the number of biogas plants are very less compared to the number of commercially produced
gas, this particular sector has been playing a crucial role to meet the needs of rural people’s day to day
lives in a clean, affordable and environment friendly way. So, this is indispensable and much required
for the upliftment and betterment of rural people’s lives. Thus Bangladesh plans to increase the stake
of renewable energy production by 10% by 2030.

Greenhouse gas emission and Climatic perspective:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs) and Global Warming: Greenhouse gas is any gas that absorbs
infra-red in the atmosphere e.g. Water vapour, Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide
(N2O), Nitrogen oxides (NOX), chlorofluoro-carbons (CFCs), hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs),
Ozone (O3), Hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), Per fluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Greenhouse effect is the trapping and build-up of heat in the atmosphere (troposphere) near the earth’s
surface. Some of the heat flowing back toward the space from the earth surface is absorbed by the
greenhouse gases rise. Consequently, the average temperature of the lower atmosphere will gradually
increase. This usually results in global warming. Therefore, global warming is an average increase in
the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface and in the troposphere that can contribute to
global as well as local climate patterns in our country. Commonly, it is often referred to as the warming
that can occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities. The major
greenhouse gases are as follows:
Carbon dioxide: This is a natural occurring gas and a by-product of burning fossil fuels and biomass
as well as land-use changes and other industrial processes. It is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse
gas that affects the earth’s radioactive balance. Also, it is the reference gas against which other
greenhouse gases are measured.
Methane: This is a hydrocarbon with a global warming potential currently estimated at 23 times that
of CO2. Methane is produced ordinarily through anaerobic fermentation of biomass wastes in landfills,
ruminant animal digestion, decomposition of animal wastes, production and distribution of natural gas
and petroleum, coal production and incomplete fossil fuel combustion.
Nitrogen oxides: This is a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 296 times that
of carbon dioxide. Major sources include soil cultivation practices especially the use of formulated
commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil fuels combustion, production of nitric and biomass burning.
Aerosols: These are collections of air borne solid or liquid particles of very small sizes (0.01 and 10
micrometers (m) and can reside in the atmosphere for several hours. They are of natural and man-
made origin and can affect climate by directly scattering and absorbing radiation or modifying the
optical properties and lifetime of clouds. Anthropogenic sulphates aerosols from fossil fuel combustion
are particulate matter that consist of compounds of sulfur formed from interaction of sulphur dioxide
and the trioxide (SO3) with the other compounds in the atmosphere. In Bangladesh this is widely used
in a lot of products and is very harmful.
Sulphur hexafluoride: This is a colourless gas that is soluble in alcohol and ether but slightly soluble
in water. It is a very powerful greenhouse gas but is utilized on electrical transmission and distribution
systems and as dielectrics in electronics.
Ozone: This is one of the gases found in the atmosphere. It is created both naturally and by
photochemical reactions involving gases that result from human activities in the troposphere. Under
high concentrations, ozone can be harmful to a wide range of living organisms and can act as a
greenhouse gas. In the stratosphere, ozone is created by the interaction between solar ultraviolet
radiation and molecular oxygen and therefore plays a decisive role in the stratospheric radiactive
balance. Depletion of ozone in the stratosphere due to chemical reactions that may be enhanced by
climate change, result in ground level-flux of ultraviolet - radiation. There are substances that can
cause depletion of ozone (ODS) in the stratosphere such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), bromofluoro
carbons (halons), methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, methyl bromide and
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Depletion of ozone in the stratosphere can also result in global
warming.

Water Vapour: This is the most abundant natural greenhouse gas and usually present in the
atmosphere. It contributes to the enhanced greenhouse gas effect because the warming influence of
greenhouse gases leads to positive water feedback.

Climate Change:
Climate change is any significant variation in the measures of climate such as temperature, rainfall,
precipitation, wind, relative humidity etc., over a long period. Since ours is a riverine country and each
year a good amount of rainfall occurs, even the slightest climate change in this region is noticeable. The
change could result from the combination of the following factors: changes in the intensity of the sun
or slow changes in the earth’s orbit around the sun; natural processes within the climate system for e.g.
ocean circulation; human activities (anthropogenic factors) that change the environment or surface e.g.
deforestation, reforestation, urbanization, desertification etc. which are severe in our rural area.
Orbital variation of the sun can be regarded as an extension of solar variability because slight variation
in the earth’s orbit leads to changes in the distribution and abundance of sunlight reaching the surface
of the earth. The variation in the earth’s orbit that affects increase or decrease of received solar radiation,
directly influences the earth’s climate system. In addition, the increment in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels
due to emissions from fossil fuel combustion, followed by aerosols and cement production, form part
of the most important human activities that may lead to climate change. local climates can be affected
by land use factors such as irrigation, deforestation, reforestation, desertification and agriculture on a
large scale. For instance, they can help to re-direct natural watercourses or the destruction of animal
habitat. Deforestation involves those processes that can result in the conversion of forested lands for
non-forest uses. It is often cited as one of the major causes of the enhanced greenhouse effect because
burning or decomposition of wood releases CO2 in the atmosphere and trees that once removed CO2
from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis will no longer be found present.

Climate change includes both the global warming driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases, and
the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic
change, since the mid-20th century, humans have had unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system.

Temperature rise is accelerated or tempered by climate feedbacks, such as loss of sunlight-reflecting

snow and ice cover, increased water vapor (a greenhouse gas itself), and changes to land and ocean
carbon sinks.
 Fig: CO2 levels in years

The role of Biogas in mitigating Climate change:

Biogas technology utilizes energy sources in ways that do not deplete the earth’s natural resources and
are as environmentally benign as possible (UN, 2010). These sources are sustainable so that those can
be managed and used indefinitely without degrading the environment (REA, 2009). The decentralized
nature of some renewable energy technologies (RETs) allows them to be match with the specific
alternate energy like biogas (CBS, 2001)
At the international level, UNFCCC 1992, Kyoto Protocol 1997 and Copenhagen 2009 have also its
main agenda for reducing GHGs emission. Bio-energy has also been discussed in IPCC report as a
mitigating climate change can be adopted to reduce its impacts. The use of alternative energy in the
form of biogas which generate from the plants in our rural areas has been contributing for reducing the
emission of greenhouse gases.
Use of biogas in both urban and rural areas here has been contributing for mitigating climate change by
reducing greenhouse gases emission and sequestrating carbon in the form of conserving natural forest.
It also offers several benefits such as health, environmental, agricultural and economic benefit through
reduced deforestation and carbon trading that increase the adaptive capacity against climate change.
Biogas has been proved to be viable and emerged as a promising technology (Katuwal & Bohara, 2009).
Spending hours for collecting, carrying fuel wood, cooking, and cleaning can be minimized; hygiene in
the kitchen is tremendously improved. In saved time, women potentially can spend this on education,
productive and other activities (SNV, 2010). Utilization of biomass based energy resources through
appropriate technological interventions has become very important for environmental conservation and
sustainable rural development (Thapa, 2006)
There is a scientific consensus that global warming poses one of the major environmental challenges
and the bulk of the so-called GHGs originate from fossil fuel consumption (IPCC 2001). There is a need
to develop GHG mitigation strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change. Biogas
technology provides an excellent opportunity for mitigation of GHG and reducing global warming
through (1) replacing firewood for cooking, (2) replacing kerosene for lighting and cooking, (3)
replacing chemical fertilizers, (4) saving trees from deforestation.

Greenhouse gas emissions nitrate and phosphate enrichment of inland and coastal waters and
deteriorating air quality are major issues throughout the world today. There is also a growing demand
in Bangladesh for more efficient heat, power, transport and food production, all of which processes are
still largely reliant on fossil fuels. However, biogas is obtained from anaerobic digestion of bio-wastes.
In places such as Denmark, Germany, Belgium and France, anaerobic digestion has been implemented
for waste processing, with the resulting biogas used for process heating, on-site electrical generation
among others. Here it is mostly used for cooking and small scale industrial applications. The GHG
emissions from controlled biological treatment are small in comparison to uncontrolled CH4 emissions
from landfills and manure lagoons without gas recovery. The advantages of this biological treatment
over land filling are reduced volume and more rapid waste stabilization.

The biological steps consist of aerobic composting or anaerobic digestion. Composting can occur either
in open wind rows or in closed buildings with gas collection and treatment. In vessel anaerobic digestion
of selected organic fractions produces biogas for energy use. Compost products and digestion residuals
can have potential horticultural or agricultural applications. Biogas fuel generation as a technology is
environmentally friendly. This is explained by carbon cycle. Plants manufacture their foods through the
process of photosynthesis. Hence, combined with the sun's energy, the captured carbon is converted
into trunks, branches, roots and leaves via the process of photosynthesis. It is stored in this biomass
form until being returned back into the atmosphere, whether through natural processes or human
interference, thus completing the carbon cycle.

GHG emission reduction:

As a greenhouse gas, methane produced in biogas plants is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide (IPCC
2007) which can create a strong negative effect on climate change. Leakages from digesters or pipeline
systems, poor maintenance, process disturbances, and unavoidable emissions during operation can
influence the total GHG performance of the biogas plant negatively. By regular leak checks, digester
with a concrete roof can minimize the GHG emission from a biogas plant. Regarding measured
emissions of biogas plants in operation, only a small number of detailed studies are available.

In former studies, the overall emissions of biogas plants usually have been estimated by assumptions,
e.g., ‘1 % of diffuse methane emissions from the components of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants like
digester, pipes,’ etc. However, in the recent years, several studies estimated methane emissions from
biogas plants. Most of the published studies analyzed agricultural AD plants; if waste treating plants
were investigated, only a few AD components were monitored as summarized by Dumont et al.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the breakdown of organic material by micro-organisms in the absence of
oxygen, which produces biogas, a methane-rich gas that can be used as a fuel, and residue digestate, a
source of nutrients that can be used as a fertiliser. A common feed material for a rural biogas plant is
cattle dung in many developing countries like ours, although it can be co-digested with other materials,
such as food-wastes, which gives improved ultimate biogas and methane yields compared with separate
digestion. The majority of biogas plants built in Bangladesh are for use by small farmers who feed them
with dung from a small number of cattle (3–4). According to van Ness et al., (2005), the technical
potential biogas in Bangladesh is approximately one million units on the basis of livestock count in
households
There are millions of tons of animal waste being produced every year and its disposal is a major
problem. A biogas plant with an Anaerobic Digester (AD) animal waste into vast quantities of methane,
which is a highly promising technology for converting each may be directly used as an energy source.
However, the full benefits of AD have not still been realized because of the perceived costs involved.
AD can be an alternative innovative technical approach for animal waste biogas programs by using
sewage sludge as a raw material. The methane collected is to be used for generating electricity for
operating dairy farm equipment. Additionally, the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
and furthermore, it will improve rural environment conditions.

Fig: Schematic diagram of the Anaerobic Digestion system

Biogas development through anaerobic digester (AD) would influence the activities of agricultural,
water, soil, and electrical sectors more in the future as the need for animal waste utilization,
management, and using sustainable energies increase.

As with any development, the sustainable use of animal manure resources would not be without
difficulties; but, it would open up an opportunity for technological developments. Biogas has an
important role in society's drive for sustainable development. In addition, the sludge as a raw material
involved in its production tends to be derived from renewable resources.

Biogas is flammable, not explosive; but an explosive environment can develop, however, if methane is
present at very low concentrations of 6–12%. So, a target for every biogas plant must be set to ensure
the highest possible level of safety for humans and the environment. It is important that safety
regulations can be understood by those who are expected to observe them in rural areas and that they
can be applied in the applicable economic framework.
As the substrates in biogas plants can contain bacteria, viruses and parasites that may cause disease in
man, animals or plants, this fear is not at all unfounded at first sight. Generally, the digestion process
has an impact on the health risks of a substrate. Different scientific studies have shown that germs in a
substrate are reduced by digestion in a biogas plant (Bagge et al. 2010, Lebuhn et al. 2007). Hence,
when a substrate is digested that normally would have served as organic fertilizer without any further
treatment, the biogas process generally reduces the risk of pathogenic germs.

In conclusion, as biogas plants do not involve a high safety risk for man or nature if the applicable
provisions are observed and the construction and operation of the plants are state-of-the-art; in rural
areas it can be a cozy source of renewable energy. Despite daily routine handling of a biogas plant,
plant operators should always observe the latest safety standards and applicable rules of conduct. In this
way, people working at biogas plants can be confident that their safety and health are protected in the
best possible way. Under normal operating conditions, biogas plants present no hazard for the
environment.

References:

1. Imam, B. (2013); Energy Resources of Bangladesh (2nd Edition)

2. Khan, E. U. & Martin A. R. (2016); Review of biogas digester technology in rural Bangladesh.
3. Wellinger, A., Murphy, J. D., & Baxter, D. (Eds.). (2013). The biogas handbook: science,
production and applications. Elsevier.
4. Bhatia, A., Pathak, H., & Aggarwal, P. K. (2004). Inventory of methane and nitrous oxide
emissions from agricultural soils of India and their global warming potential. Current Science,
87(3), 317–324.
5. . IPCC (1996). Climate change: Impacts, adaptations and mitigation of climate change. In R.
T. Watson, M. C. Zinyowera, & R. H. Ross (Eds.), Scientific technical report analyses.
Contribution of working group
6. Saeed Esfandiari, Ramin Khosrokhavar & Masih Sekhavat; Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Reduction through a Biogas Plant: A Case Study of Waste Management Systems at FEKA
Dairy Farm
7. Green-house gas mitigation capacity of a small scale rural biogas plant calculations for
Bangladesh through a general life cycle assessment; Khondokar M Rahman, Lynsey Melville,
David Fulford and SM Imamul Huq
8. Digestion of bio-waste - GHG emissions and mitigation potential; Jaqueline Daniel-Gromke,
Jan Liebetrau, Velina Denysenko and Christian Krebs
9. Biogas Option for Mitigating and Adaptation of Climate Change; Mohan B. Chand, Bidur P.
Upadhyay, Rejina Maskey
10. The Role of Biogas in Mitigating Climate Change; Uzodinma, E.O., Ofoefule, A.U. and
Oparaku, O.U.
11. Role of Biogas in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Anjana Sharma, Raju Laudari,
Kedar Rijal, Lokendra Adhikari