Anaerobic Digestion of Biomass

Methanization is now considered the benchmark process for converting organic waste products into renewable energy or biofuel. Boosted by a favorable regulatory and economic context, linked in particular to the recognition by industrialized countries of the depletion of fossil fuels and the need to protect the environment, organic waste treatment processes incorporating methanization are experiencing significant growth. In addition to producing renewable energy, and depending on the nature of the product treated, methanization can also achieve two additional objectives: reducing the pollution load of organic waste or effluent, and producing a stabilized digestate that can be used as a fertilizer or organic amendment in agriculture. In this way, anaerobic digestion is an essential technological building block in the development of the bioeconomy, in close collaboration with local communities and their agrosystems.

In the French context of anaerobic digestion of organic waste products resulting from human activity, the aim of this article is firstly to set out the fundamentals of the anaerobic digestion process, so as to be able to propose guides for optimizing digesters. The valorization of the products of anaerobic digestion (biogas and digestate) is also discussed.