Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2019/9 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Small-scale biogas production from organic waste and application in mid- income countries – a case study of a Lebanese community Sebastian Huber DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES INSTITUTIONEN FÖR GEOVETENSKAPER Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2019/9 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Small-scale biogas production from organic waste and application in mid-income countries – a case study of a Lebanese community Sebastian Huber Supervisor: Ershad Ullah Khan & Gunnar Larsson Subject Reviewer: Åke Nordberg Copyright © Sebastian Huber and the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University Published at Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University (www.geo.uu.se), Uppsala, 2019 Content Abstract ......................................................................................................................................V Summary................................................................................................................................... VI List of Figures ..........................................................................................................................VII List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... VIII List of abbreviations.................................................................................................................. IX 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Rationale of this study .................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Study aims and research questions ................................................................................... 2 2. Background.......................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Pillars for a sustainable future ......................................................................................... 3 2.2. Municipal solid waste – a global challenge....................................................................... 4 2.3. The country of Lebanon .................................................................................................. 5 2.3.1. Geography, demographics and economic background ................................................ 5 2.3.2. The issue of solid waste management ....................................................................... 6 2.3.3. Energy supply ......................................................................................................... 7 2.4. Biogas technology .......................................................................................................... 9 2.4.1. Anaerobic digestion process....................................................................................10 2.4.2. Process classification and operating parameters........................................................10 2.4.3. Feedstock and biogas yields ....................................................................................12 2.4.4. Organic waste as a resource for biogas production....................................................14 2.4.5. Merits in the light of Sustainable Development ........................................................14 2.4.6. Clarification of some terms .....................................................................................15 2.5. Area of research ............................................................................................................16 2.5.1. Geographical context and demographics ..................................................................16 2.5.2. Current energy supply and waste management .........................................................16 2.5.3. Motivation and starting point of the investigation .....................................................17 3. Methods ............................................................................................................................. 18 3.1. Quantitative assessment .................................................................................................18 3.1.1. Achievable biogas yield..........................................................................................18 3.1.2. Cost assessment .....................................................................................................21 3.1.3. Determining digester size .......................................................................................23 3.1.4. Mass balance .........................................................................................................23 3.2. Qualitative assessment ...................................................................................................23 3.2.1. Identifying stakeholders..........................................................................................23 3.2.2. Approaching stakeholders.......................................................................................24 3.2.3. Feasibility categories for proposal evaluation ...........................................................25 4. Results ............................................................................................................................... 26 4.1. Theoretical feasibility ....................................................................................................26 4.1.1. Available organic waste resources ...........................................................................26 II 4.1.2. Potential biogas yields and end use choice ...............................................................27 4.1.3. Digester design ......................................................................................................28 4.1.4. Cost estimations .....................................................................................................30 4.2. Practical feasibility ........................................................................................................33 4.2.1. Application in Ghazir village ..................................................................................33 4.2.2. Proposing a business model ....................................................................................34 4.2.3. Identified stakeholders............................................................................................35 4.2.4. Local acceptance ....................................................................................................37 4.3. Reflection on the used strategies and lessons learned .......................................................38 4.3.1. Identifying and contacting stakeholders ...................................................................38 4.3.2. Waste quantification...............................................................................................38 4.3.3. Exploring local acceptance .....................................................................................39 5. Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 40 5.1. Techno-economic potential ............................................................................................40 5.1.1. Predicting biogas yields ..........................................................................................40 5.1.2. Choice of unit design and digestion mode ................................................................41 5.1.3. Cost estimation ......................................................................................................42 5.2. Implementation and successful application......................................................................43 5.2.1. Technical-operational perspective ...........................................................................43 5.2.2. Environmental perspective......................................................................................43 5.2.3. Financial-economic perspective ..............................................................................45 5.2.4. Socio-cultural perspective.......................................................................................45 5.2.5. Institutional perspective ..........................................................................................45 5.2.6. Policy and legal perspective ....................................................................................46 5.3. Prospects of assessment replication.................................................................................46 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 48 7. Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. 49 8. References .......................................................................................................................... 50 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 61 A. Stakeholder consultations ..................................................................................................61 A.1 Ministry of Environment ............................................................................................61