Conclusion

Seventh Official Post

This will be my final post and it will be a conclusion to summarize everything. So, I will be bringing all the topics being talked about in the previous posts together.

Anaerobic Digestion starts with an initial material. In the first stage, hydrolysis occurs and materials like carbohydrates, fats and proteins are broken down into sugar, fatty acids and amino acids. Next in acidogenesis, acidogenic bacteria will further break down them into carbonic acids, alcohol, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and ammonia.

At actegenesis, acetogens will digest and produce hydrogen, acetic acid and carbon dioxide. Lastly, at methanogens, methane and carbon dioxide will be produced. The 3 principal end-products of Anaerobic Digestion will be:

1. Biogas
2. Digestate
3. Water

Biogas is the main product of the whole digestion. It is something important as it can actually replace fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy, while biogas is not. Furthermore, fossil fuels are not that environmental-friendly compared to biogas and that they may run out one day too. Biogas can reduce greenhouse effects and act as a source of energy.

Materials which the microorganisms cannot digest will become the digestate. Uses of digetate will differ accordingly to the quality of the initial material put in. Digestate can be used to make products like fiber board. It also acts as fertilizer which helps plants and crops grow.

Water will be produced as well. The water will come from the initial material and the reactions during the processes. Normally, the water must be further treated a little or they will cause eutrophication. However, many industries or companies adopted anaerobic processes to treat wastewater.

So how does Anaerobic Digestion benefit Earth and us?

Earth is now facing a few problems. They are:

Greenhouse Effects→ Global warming
Evolution of humans→ Pollution
Higher energy consumption→ Depleting of natural resources (e.g. fossil fuels)





Anaerobic Digestion can reduce the emission of radiation from materials. It will break down biodegradable products under control. If the products are being digested in landfills by natural anaerobic digesters, the methane and greenhouse gasses will be released into the atmosphere. This leads to the trapping of radiation, heating up the Earth and cause global warming.

Biogas will also produce lesser radiation during combustion as compared to fossil fuels. It is a renewable resource and therefore would not be depleted down the years. It will be a lot more environmental-friendly.

Anaerobic Digestion also provides an alternative way for wastewater to be treated. This way, the dirty and poisoned water will not just be discharged into the oceans, polluting the sea and killing marine animals.

Fertilizer and simple products can be obtained from it. This helps us to save some other resources by recycling. We can obtain biogas and fertilizer etc. from an initial material.

Who would have thought that Anaerobic Digestion could actually help in such a big way? Microorganisms will just digest the initial material and we can get a number of end-products. They are other ways which Anaerobic Digestion can help reduce emission as well. Examples:

1. Reducing vehicles movements
2. Reducing electrical grid transportation losses

Anaerobic Digestion is a useful method of getting rid of biodegradable materials. It can benefit us greatly and help save Earth!


Don’t let Earth be destroyed!!!