Mitigation – reducing emissions, enhancing sinks

Agriculture / forestry / Waste

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) treatment is a process that applies anaerobic bio-digestion to the effluent from the process of refining the palm oil. The POME is highly damaging to the environment due to its acidity and high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentration. Typically, POME is stored in open ponds before release into waterways causing methane and CO2 emissions (see picture below). Se

Effluent from palm oil production

veral systems have been developed to treat the POME and capture the methane gas which subsequently can be used as a fuel e.g. in electricity generation. The process most often involves an anaerobic digester tank using thermophilic bacteria. The solid waste from the fruit kernels can be composted and used as fertilizer. The technology reduces GHG emissions, replaces fossil fuels and chemical fertilisers, and thereby contributes to mitigation.

Bio-drying of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a simple processing of urban household waste often with high organic content. The process can consist of sorting, bio-drying using membrane covered open composting, and shredding into fragments applicable to the combustion process. The bio-drying process takes place in heaps on specifically prepared concrete grounds with water channels to lead away leachate. Covered with a semi-permeable membrane and ventilated, the process can produce RDF in a couple of weeks to be used for combustion in e.g. cement kilns or power plants. The RDF can replace fossil fuels and as such reduces GHG emissions.

Composting of MSW transforms the biodegradable fraction of the MSW into compost which can be sold and used for soil improvement. In the aerobic process CO2 is produced, but the methane emission associated with anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in normal landfills is avoided. The non-organic fraction of the MSW must be removed before composting.

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