Biogas From Human Sewage: Global Warming

Can Biogas From Human Sewage Play a Significant Role in Getting Us Out of Global Warming? Name Institution Can Biogas From Human Sewage Play a Significant Role in Getting Us Out of Global Warming? Introduction When organic matter breaks down without the presence of oxygen, the process results into a mixture of gases that are referred to as biogas. This biogas is an energy gas that is made up of methane as its primary component. The organic matter can be in form of slurry from sewages, agricultural wastes, food wastes, plant materials, green waste, manure, or municipal wastes. Since the resources that it is obtained from are replenished naturally, biogas is therefore a renewable energy source. Compared to other energy sources and fuels such as the fossil fuels, biogas is also considered the cleanest and is expected to replace other fuels in the near future especially in Sweden. Ideally, the process of biogas production is economical and beneficial to society since it makes it possible for most of the organic wastes generated to be reused in a more resourceful manner. Biogas obtained from human sewage plays a big role in reducing global warming in a number of ways. For one, it is renewable and clean, meaning that it is also non-polluting to the environment in terms of emitting very low greenhouse gases. The generation of biogas also reduces the pollution of water and soil that would otherwise be in bad condition with toxic substances which would cause climate change. Organic fertilizer is obtained from biogas generation and this therefore saves the environment from the toxic chemical fertilizers. All the mentioned factors indicate that indeed biogas from human sewage plays a big role when it comes to reducing global warming. This paper discusses the factors that push investments into biogas as a renewable energy, the cost of such investments, and the examples of wastewater treatment plants that help in the generation of biogas. Drivers for Investments, Benefits, Regulations and Future Investments One of the leading reasons for investing in biogas is the need to reduce and stop pollution due to greenhouse gases emissions. According to a report by IEA Bioenergy (IEA, 2018), the transition from using fossil fuels to biogas or bioenergy was necessitated by the fact that the latter plays an important role of reducing the amount of the harmful greenhouse gases that are emitted and released into the atmosphere. Ideally, biogas generation achieves this by providing means that human sewage and other wastes can be treated and managed (Plugge 2017). This role is important in most other areas where these wastes are not treated and managed through digestion, they pile up into mountains on landfill sites where the process of decomposition takes place and eventually leads to methane gas to be released. Notably, this methane contributes massively to global warming when compared to carbon dioxide.[IEA Bioenergy. The Role of Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas in the Circular Economy] The other driver of the renewable energy investment is the anticipated adverse climate change with its impacts and associated risks. According to a report by IPCC (2018), roughly 1.0 degrees Celsius of global warming is due to human activities. Notably, the transport secto...