Biogas potential of organic waste onboard cruise ships

a yet untapped energy source

authored by

Kai Schumüller, Dirk Weichgrebe, Stephan Koester

Abstract

To tap the organic waste generated onboard cruise ships is a very promising approach to reduce their adverse impact on the maritime environment. Biogas produced by means of onboard anaerobic digestion offers a complementary energy source for ships’ operation. This report comprises a detailed presentation of the results gained from comprehensive investigations on the gas yield from onboard substrates such as food waste, sewage sludge and screening solids. Each person onboard generates a total average of about 9 kg of organic waste per day. The performed analyses of substrates and anaerobic digestion tests revealed an accumulated methane yield of around 159 L per person per day. The anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste (50:50 VS) emerged as particularly effective and led to an increased biogas yield by 24%, compared to the mono-fermentation. In the best case, onboard biogas production can provide an energetic output of 82 W/P, on average covering 3.3 to 4.1% of the total energy demand of a cruise ship.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Waste Management

Type

Article

Journal

BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY

Volume

12

Pages

5647-5662

No. of pages

16

ISSN

2190-6815

Publication date

12.2022

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-01249-0 (Access: Open)