10. Fuel from Waste: A Review on Scientific Solution for Waste Management and Environment Conservation

Millions of tons of solid wastes are produced as a result of various household, agricultural, and industrial activities around the globe every year, which if not managed and disposed properly can create serious health and environmental issues. At the same time, huge amounts of coal, oil, and natural gas are burnt daily to generate electricity and power to run domestic, workplace, and industrial appliances. The excessive and un-managed use of fossil fuels has not only put pressure on already limited resources, but has also resulted as major contributor of environment pollution. The scientific community has been continuously searching for the renewable and alternate sources of fuel on one hand and an amicable solution to manage the waste on the other hand. These two biggest challenges before the world presently, if diagnosed and managed scientifically, can provide solution to each other by providing clean renewable energy from solid and liquid waste materials. Waste-to-energy technologies physically convert waste matter into more useful forms like bioethanol, biobutanol, biogas, biohythane, CNG, and syngas through various processes such as combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, or biological treatments. The processes like anaerobic digestion and fermentation and combinations of various technologies can be used to tackle the rising demand of energy. Utilizing these wastes would not only provide supply of fuels on sustainable basis but would also be helpful in conserving our environment. The selection of appropriate raw material and efficient technology for biofuel production is of immense importance in order to produce high-quality product with reduced environmental impact. Various aspects of waste utilization through clean renewable source of energy for sustainable development of society are of paramount significance in today’s context and need immediate attention.