Preliminary evaluation of banana waste as a substrate for energy generation
Bananas are grown in every humid tropical region of the world. Australia currently produces 250,000 tonnes of bananas each year, worth about $350 million. However, as many as 20% of the bananas grown are rejected due to minor blemishes and mechanical damage during post harvest processing. The processing of banana plants also results in the generation of plant and stem waste. This study evaluated the usefulness of a combined banana waste stream for energy generation and compared the banana derived fuels to traditional fossil fuels. Two banana derived fuels were considered in this study, fuel ethanol and biogas (a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide). The potential for production of banana derived ethanol was found to be approximately 1,050L/ton which corresponds to 2.7GJ/ton. The potential yield of banana derived methane was found to be approximately 66m3/ton which corresponds to 2.6GJ/ton. A basic economic and environmental assessment were used to compare fuels derived from banana waste and traditional fossil fuels. The key environmental indicator used in this comparison was global warming contribution. Social impacts along with the environmental impacts from air pollutants and process-water were also assessed. This is an ongoing project, however the preliminary analysis suggests that banana derived ethanol is economically comparable to fossils fuels and that energy derived from banana waste has distinct environmental advantages depending on the application.