Grantee Research Project Results
2024 Progress Report: Navigating the Food-Energy-Water Nexus through the Conversion of Food Waste to Biocrude
EPA Grant Number: SU840872Title: Navigating the Food-Energy-Water Nexus through the Conversion of Food Waste to Biocrude
Investigators: Bauer, Sarah
Institution: Mercer University
EPA Project Officer: Cunniff, Sydney
Phase: I
Project Period: January 1, 2024 through May 10, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2024 through December 31,2024
Project Amount: $74,999
RFA: 20th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet Request for Applications (RFA) (2023) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Societal needs regarding energy resources, water supplies, and waste management will only escalate as the world’s population continues to increase. Food, energy, and water security, interconnected within the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus, are arguably three of the most prominent sustainability issues facing our nation. In the coming years, society as a whole must utilize research and technological advances in these sectors and work together to improve the security of each sector in order to face the challenges of our growing nation.
As the world’s population increases, so does societal demand for reliable, accessible energy supplies. Biofuels have been gaining traction as a renewable, theoretically carbon-neutral, and seemingly environmentally preferable alternative to traditional fossil fuels. This project will investigate the sustainability of biofuels derived from waste streams, while seeking biofuel production technologies that do not impact existing water quality and quantity difficulties, nor environmental sustainability. This project will specifically evaluate the environmental performance of biofuels produced via the thermochemical processing technique of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) conversion of food waste, such as agricultural production waste, packaging waste, and beverage waste (i.e., produced from wine- and beer-making and coffee brewing), using a range of experimental methods and life-cycle and cost assessment techniques. Research aims include: (1) experimental characterization and optimization of food waste feedstocks and their corresponding post-HTL products and (2) life-cycle and cost assessment of hypothetical regional collection and conversion systems for biofuel and post-HTL products recovered from food waste streams.
Progress Summary:
In Year 1 on the project period, the PI and project team completed tasks related to Objective 1 of the research project - Experimental characterization and optimization of food waste feedstocks and their corresponding post-HTL products (i.e., biocrude, biochar, and aqueous co-product [ACP]). This research utilized bench-scale experimental processing to evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of HTL conversion of food waste feedstocks for biocrude production. Three main experimental approaches were used: (1) initial characterization and pre-treatment of asreceived food waste feedstocks, (2) HTL-based conversion of food waste feedstocks into liquid biocrude, and (3) extraction and characterization of HTL products, including biocrude, biochar, and ACP. HTL processing experiments under the same reactor conditions were performed on six food waste feedstocks, both as single HTL feedstocks and co-HTL feedstocks. Experiments aimed to evaluate the improvement of overall energy yield of the conversion of food waste feedstocks to biocrude via HTL by adding food waste feedstocks of high or low water content until the combined mixture achieved optimum water content. Quantity and quality of the raw food waste feedstocks and HTL products were measured to determine optimal food waste feedstocks for HTL conversion to incorporate into the life-cycle and cost assessment of hypothetical regional collection and conversion systems that will be completed through Objective 2 of this project.
Future Activities:
In Year 2 of the project period, the PI and project team will complete tasks related to Objective 2 of the research project - Life-cycle and cost assessment of hypothetical regional collection and conversion systems for biocrude and post-HTL products recovered from food waste streams. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost (LCC) assessment techniques will be used to analyze the environmental and economic performance of full-scale, hypothetical HTL conversion systems for optimal food waste feedstocks. This approach will be used to interpret and contextualize experimental HTL data from Objective 1 of this project. LCA and LCC analysis will provide a means of drawing meaningful conclusions to inform sustainability decision-making related to the commercialization of HTL-based fuel production from food waste feedstocks.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Renewable energy, life cycle analysis, food waste, resource recoveryProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.