Process Evaluation of a Domestic Biogas Digester

Africa has launched a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) network in conjunction with the Society of Environment Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), and the focal point is to recognize gap in LCA initiatives between developed and developing countries. Although South Africa does not have legislation on carrying-out LCA initiatives, there is a huge drive on preserving our environment, and that is evidenced through the carbon tax bill already proposed. It is due to such developments that the authors initiated an LCA initiative in the design phase of a Biogas Plant for domestic applications. Thorough LCA initiatives are notorious for being time consuming and often manipulated by organizations to “greenwash” their products. These challenges have been a stumbling block for the acceptance of LCA initiatives. The paper looked at the operation of a biogas digester process, for a biogas digester that has been developed in the University of Johannesburg. From the aforementioned process fundamental Life Cycle computation was carried out to identify the environmental impact of the product.