title: LCA applied to elucidate opportunities for biogas from wastewaters in Colombia.
abstract: Biogas produced in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities (BWWF) is a resource wasted in several socio-economic contexts. BWWF-based projects are compared against energy projects using conventional electricity or natural gas (NG), following strict economic considerations that usually tip the balance in favour of conventional energy supply. This is because the economic gain associated with the environmental benefits of using small biogas sources like BWWF does not overcome the technical and financial effort required in these types of project. This paper shows a broader application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to explore opportunities for positive (or effective) utilization of BWWF in the Colombian context. LCA has been used to evaluate the supply-chain of NG which is the direct competitor of BWWF, in three different Colombian regions, in order to identify those where higher NG environmental impacts offer increased environmental added-value to BWWF use. LCA was also applied to study two BWWF valorization scenarios in the poultry processing industry. It shows how valorization options for BWWF are more realistic and effective when specific-regional loads are applied to the environmental assessment of NG supply-chain and BWWF valorization.
authors: Grupo de Investigación en Bioprocesos y Flujos Reactivos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín, Carrera 80 No 65-223 - Núcleo Robledo, Medellín, Colombia E-mail: amenesesj@unal.edu.co; Ingeniería Ambiental, Unidades Tecnológicas de Santander, Calle de los Estudiantes, Bucaramanga, Colombia.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Meneses-Jácome
authors: Grupo de Investigación en Bioprocesos y Flujos Reactivos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín, Carrera 80 No 65-223 - Núcleo Robledo, Medellín, Colombia E-mail: amenesesj@unal.edu.co.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Osorio-Molina
authors: Cátedra de Bioprocesos Ambientales, Centro del Agua para América Latina y el Caribe, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64849, México.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Parra-Saldívar
authors: Grupo de Investigación en Bioprocesos y Flujos Reactivos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín, Carrera 80 No 65-223 - Núcleo Robledo, Medellín, Colombia E-mail: amenesesj@unal.edu.co.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Gallego-Suárez
authors: Grupo de Investigación en Bioprocesos y Flujos Reactivos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín, Carrera 80 No 65-223 - Núcleo Robledo, Medellín, Colombia E-mail: amenesesj@unal.edu.co.
authors: H I
authors: HI
authors: Velásquez-Arredondo
authors: Grupo de Investigación en Bioprocesos y Flujos Reactivos, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Medellín, Carrera 80 No 65-223 - Núcleo Robledo, Medellín, Colombia E-mail: amenesesj@unal.edu.co.
authors: A A
authors: AA
authors: Ruiz-Colorado
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003105:Colombia; D004777:Environment; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D014866:Waste Products; D062065:Wastewater