The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A pr il 28 ,2 02 2 | 22 Food waste is a growing prob- lem in Canada and many other parts of the world -- and it is only expected to get worse in the com- ing years. The world population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, alongside global food de- mand. Not only will this create large amounts of food and municipal organic waste, but there will also be increasing amounts of agri- cultural waste as the global de- mand of vegetables, fruits and grains increases. An estimated 60 per cent of food produced in Can- ada -- over 35 million tonnes per year -- ends up in landfills. How- ever, Canadian cities have also run out of land to dispose this ac- cumulating waste. Food waste comes with its own set of issues, including greenhouse gas emissions, un- pleasant odours, pests and toxic fluids that can infiltrate water sources. In addition, every year, municipal dumps take over more land, reaching the edges of com- munities, which can lead to health issues for those who are living nearby. In an effort to reduce the growing problem of food waste disposal, researchers like myself are focusing on developing new technologies that use food waste to generate clean energy. My team and I are studying a process known as biomass gasification. BIOMASS GASIFICATION Biomass gasification uses heat, oxygen, steam, or a mixture of those, to convert biomass -- food and agricultural waste or other biological materials -- into a mixture of gases that can be used as fuel. Biomass gasification works by feeding semi-dry food waste into a unit that looks a bit like a cook- ing pot, where it passes through a hot, bubbling substance that con- verts it to fuel gas. This process, known as fluidization is very effi- cient at converting food waste in- to high-valuable sources of ener- gy-rich synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, al- so called syngas. Syngas can be used to generate heat and power. This process is sustainable be- cause is considered to be carbon- neutral. Farms, cities and municipali- ties could implement this sus- tainable technology to cut utility expenses for heating or electric- ity. They could also significantly reduce dependency on landfills and lower the operating budget for solid waste management ser- vices which can reach near $380 million per year for a city the size of Toronto. REPLACING FOSSIL FUELS The consumption of fossil fu- els and their derivatives has cre- ated an environmental crisis, mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which has led to climate change. As governments around the world implement climate poli- cies that restrict greenhouse gas emissions or tax them, it is im- portant to replace fossil fuels with alternative renewable sources of energy such as agri- cultural and food waste. Although syngas can be used like a conventional natural gas, which is a methane-based fossil fuel, it is different from it be- cause of its higher composition of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. These gases can be further converted into high-value bio- based chemicals such as metha- nol and ammonia. Biomass gas- ification also generates biochar, which can be used to improve soil fertility. While the production of syn- gas depends on the type of bio- mass and technology used. The Canadian Atikokan Generating Station, for instance, produced 205 megawatts of clean electrici- ty. This is enough energy to pow- er about 70, 000 residential and commercial buildings. GLOBAL PROJECTS Countries such as Finland, Brazil, Italy, Denmark and the United States are leading the way in developing sustainable and cost-efficient biomass gasifica- tion projects and using food waste to support their domestic production of heat, power and bio-based chemicals. Canada has a few companies supplying ener- gy and bio-based chemicals from municipal waste. In this case, Canada produces 1.4 per cent of its electricity with Biomass. Costa Rica is another exam- ple. As one of the top 20 coffee producers in the world, Costa Ri- ca generates a significant amount of agricultural waste from coffee production and its disposal presents serious envi- ronmental problems. Its present solution is biomass gasification technologies to convert coffee pulp into heat and power. Small and marginal commu- nities could also take full advan- tage of biomass gasification tech- nologies by reducing the amount of food waste that accumulates in landfills, producing their own energy and power and signifi- cantly lowering their utilities ex- penses. A SUSTAINABLE AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY Biomass gasification is a sus- tainable and technological strat- egy that turns food waste to a val- ue-added product. It is a step along the path to a circular econ- omy culture of zero waste. Policy leaders and govern- ments need to support sustain- able programs by providing fi- nancial aid, subsidies and tax in- centives. These programs may al- so encourage individuals and companies to invest in biomass gasification technologies and de- velop them on a commercial scale. Biomass gasification brings cities and municipalities one step closer to putting an end to con- cerns about food waste. It also helps meet energy demands and displace fossil fuel use and will help us transition towards a sus- tainable and circular economy. Salvador Escobedo Salas, Re- search Associate | Faculty of En- gineering | Chemical and Bio- chemical Engineering Depart- ment, Western University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. HERE'S HOW FOOD WASTE CAN GENERATE CLEAN ENERGY SALVADOR ESCOBEDO SALAS OPINION In an effort to reduce the growing problem of food waste disposal, researchers are focusing on developing new green technologies that use food waste to generate clean energy. Dreamstime photo DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Salvador Escobedo Salas is affiliated with Recat Technologies Inc. and the Chemical Reactor Engineering Centre (CREC) at Western University.