Anthropic methane emissions can largely be prevented or minimized using
technologies that are already available. One such technology is anaerobic digestion
(AD), which is used commercially around the world, especially in Europe
and the United States, where some challenging targets have been set to
diversify the energy mix with more renewable energy. This foresight study was
designed to identify which technological solutions out of the many options
available for biogas production are attracting most interest, for which purpose
patent documents and scientific publications were analyzed. The aim is to
identify which raw materials are most attractive for AD and biogas production.
It was found that the raw materials that have attracted most research and
patenting activity are sludge, sewage, and wastewater, livestock waste, and
agriculture waste, which together account for 62% of all the patents filed and
74% of all the scientific publications. The countries most engaged in producing
biogas from AD plants are China, Germany, and the United States. We
also identified a rising trend in the use of biogas around the world, and a
steady increase in the number of patents filed on the subject, especially in Japan
and South Korea. This growth is driven, amongst other things, by strategic
governmental actions, global environmental pacts, and the realization on
the part of industry that anaerobic digestion can be used as an efficient method
for treating waste and effluents.
For FULL-TEXT go to http://file.scirp.org/pdf/JEP_2017021016142340.pdf
Author(s): Rafaela Lora Grando, Fabiana Valeria da Fonseca, Adelaide Maria de Souza Antunes
Oganization(s): Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial (INPI)
Source: Journal of Environmental Protection
Year: 2017