REVIEW PAPER
Bioconversion of Egypt's Agricultural Wastes
into Biogas and Compost
Mohamed Elfeki1, Ebtesam Elbestawy2, Emil Tkadlec1, 3
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1Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Palacký University,
Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
2Department of Environmental Studies, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, Alexandria University,
163 Horria Ave., P.O. Box 832 El-Shatby, Alexandria, Egypt
3Institute of Vertebrate Biology, AS CR, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
Submission date: 2017-02-07
Final revision date: 2017-03-23
Acceptance date: 2017-03-28
Online publication date: 2017-09-18
Publication date: 2017-11-07
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2017;26(6):2445-2453
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ABSTRACT
This study focuses on the bioconversion of agricultural wastes (AWs) in rural Egypt. We analyzed data
derived from literature to implement a future image suiting Egypt's situation. Despite the limited information
in the field of management of agricultural wastes in Egypt and the gap between formal and practical
data, the studies consistently showed that bioconversion is suitable to sustainably treat the unused part of
AWs, which is about 52% of a total of 46.7×106 tons year-1. Bioconversion can convert those AWs into about
12.6×109 m3 year-1 of biogas with about 60% methane, which is equal to 7.6×109 m3 of natural gas (NG),
and/or ≈ 10×106 tons year-1 of compost. The produced biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) can contribute
to about 13% of the Egypt’s total NG production; meanwhile, compost will increase the total production of
fertilizers in Egypt at more than 60%. This suggests that decision makers, researchers, and engineers should
draw more attention to bioconversion as an efficient management tool for resolving the growing problem of
agricultural wastes in rural areas.