The-biogas-handbook-Science-production-and-applications

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Foreword
discussed in Part II of this book, is extremely important for proper
management of digesters.
While reading a draft of The biogas handbook, I was struck by the
following statement in Chapter 6, ‘Optimisation of biogas yields from
anaerobic digestion by feedstock type,’ by Charles Banks and Sonia Heaven
with Southampton University in the UK: ‘We have to overcome the idea
that an anaerobic digester is a rudimentary low-technology waste treatment
and disposal system, and replace it with one of a process capable of
delivering the multiple benefits of low-cost second-generation renewable
energy production, a sustainable route to nutrient recycling and a means of
abating GHG emissions’. This statement highlights the role that anaerobic
digestion as a technology, and anaerobic digestion as a renewable energy
supplier, play in meeting global demand for soil nutrients and organic
matter, and for a stable and steady supply of renewable electricity, heat, gas
and fuel.
The extent and depth of knowledge and experience captured in The biogas
handbook will help the emerging anaerobic digestion and biogas industries
construct and operate state-of-the-art (and science) biogas plants. As an
Editor, I am impressed with the handbook’s ability to convey technical and
scientific information in a style that can be understood by individuals with
varying levels of knowledge about the topics discussed.
Since 1960, BioCycle has been promoting practices and technologies that,
at their core, conserve the world’s resources while sustaining communities
and economies. Anaerobic digestion has a unique role because the process
and the products service a community’s waste management, energy, soil
health, water quality and greenhouse gas reduction needs. How to optimize
the technology to maximize the quality and quantity of the outputs is at the
heart of The biogas handbook.
Nora Goldstein
Editor, BioCycle
© Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2013