Pyrolysis of Food Waste for Sustainable Production of Biofuels in Marginal Enviroments

Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that bioenergy would have the biggest growth in renewable resources between 2018 and 2023 (IEA’s Renewables 2018). The great potential lies in the use of biofuels in industry, electricity generation, hydrogen energy and transportation sectors. The use of waste biomass and organic residues for biofuels is particularly attractive as it offers a solution to mitigate concern over land use for energy crops besides addressing environmental problems associated with contamination of waste and soil by landfill. In addition, biomass conversion to biofuels produces biochar as a by-product, hence expanding the benefit of biomass energy to countering land degradation and having enhancing properties for some soils, for example improved water retention in soils of aridic to torric moisture regimes or alleviating high bulk density in compacted, heavy clay soils.

This study presents experimental work on the pyrolysis of food waste (leftovers from various restaurants, hospitals, and hotels) in the United Arab Emirates. The experiments were carried out in a lab scale auger pyrolysis reactor with a throughput of 500 g/h. The results include, in addition to the waste chemical and physical characteristics, detailed analyses of the products, bio-oil and char, for potential applications in energy production and as soil amendment, respectively. The study concludes with a critical assessment of the food waste against other alternative organic matters that are available for pyrolysis in marginal environments.