From Trash to Treasure: Conversion of Excess Biomass into Reusable Fuels and Animal Feed

From Trash to Treasure: Conversion of Excess Biomass into Reusable Fuels and Animal Feed

According to the principles of green chemistry, altering the remains of waste biomass into fuel for animal feed by means of gasification, ethanol conversion, and lime treatment can greatly benefit the planet's population and environment. The process of gasification (converting biomass to fuel) entails feeding the biomass into a gasifier, which produces mainly CO(g) and H2(g). The distillation process involves two or three distillation columns using heat to break down waste components, creating bio- alcohol. The process of converting waste into digestible animal feed consists of waste going through a treatment plant to add moisture using an exothermic reaction, which produces a hydrated lime-dry sludge in which bacteria and pathogens have been inactivated. This process has its skeptics due to safety reasons, but the stabilized sludge has no risk of pathogen regrowth, no odor, low investment costs, and the ability to convert into a biosolid product available for use as animal feed or fuel. These green chemistry processes will be analyzed to determine if they can make a difference to the environment and the global economy.