Feasibility ofAnaerobic Digestion of Potato peels for Biogas asMitigation of Greenhouse gases Emission Potential

Abstract

Processing of round potatoes (Solanum tuberosum (L.) into chips in Tanzania and particularly<br />Dar es Salaam city is a growing business that attract low wages employees and unemployed occupants. Proliferation<br />of chips vendors with low knowledge, poor attitude and practice towards environment have resulted into poor<br />management of potato peels waste which are haphazardly disposed of thus causing unhealthy environment,<br />health risks and dilapidated infrastructure. In this paper, the contribution of potato peels to emission of greenhouse<br />gases (GHGs) was analyzed for Dar es Salaam city adapting the UNFCCC baseline scenario model. Based on<br />the 2012 city population of 4.37million with 5.6% growth rate, peels generation and GHGs emission potential<br />have been quantified and projected for 20 years. The global warming potential as CO2 equivalent cumulatively<br />stands at 2 kilotons of peels to 1 ton GHGs emission. Field investigation to assess feasibility of using the peels for<br />biogas production as mitigation measure for the GHGs emission was conducted. Availability, quantitative and<br />qualitative attributes of the peels for the biogas production in Dar es Salaam are hereby presented.