Potential of biogas production from co-digestion of jackfruit waste, banana peels and pineapple peels with cow dung : a case of Kangulumira Sub-County, Kayunga District

Abstract

In Uganda, only 28% of the population has access to electricity, with over 92% of the population relying on firewood and charcoal for energy. This has led to loss of over 60% of natural forests in the last 25 years. Use of alternative sustainable energy sources such as biogas would help close the energy gap. This study was carried out to evaluate the potential of biogas production from jackfruit waste, banana peels, and pineapple peels as alternative energy source for Kangulumira Sub-County, Kayunga District. These fruit wastes were subjected to anaerobic digestion and co -digestion with cow-dung. A survey conducted in 236 households in the study area showed that 60.6% of the households use firewood and charcoal as their main source of energy. The anaerobic digestion results showed that the cumulative biogas production was 82.3, 189, 262 mL for jackfruit waste, banana peels and pineapple peels respectively. Co-digestion with 25% of cow dung significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the total biogas production by two folds for jackfruit waste and three folds for both pineapple and banana peels. However, 50% of cow dung only significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved for only jackfruit waste by two folds. Jackfruit waste, banana and pineapple peels can generate up to 681, 1443 and 1169 MWh/yr respectively. From the results obtained, jackfruit waste, banana and pineapple peels have potential of producing biogas to augment Kangulumira’s energy supply