Valorization of municipal solid wastes through biogas production in Iran

Abstract

Iran is a developing country with a population of over 80 million. The total daily MSWs production in Iran is about 50 million kg. Most of the MSWs in this country is being disposed of in the landfills. Some of the landfills are located in the urban area or near to sea, river, and forest. In this regard, the management of MSWS becomes a concern in Iran. One solution to manage MSWs and mitigate their environmental impacts is to capture the biogas production. Thus, this research presents the potential biogas generation from MSWs in Iran. The findings of this study illustrated that Iran's daily energy generation potential from MSW is equal to 31,676 barrels of crude oil. The yearly biogas potential generation from MSWs resources is equal to 13.4 million barrels of crude oil equivalent. Overall, the results of this research show that there is a tremendous potential to generate energy and reduce the environmental impact of MSWs in Iran through converting them to the biogas.