Page 29 - Energy from Toxic Organic Waste for Heat and Power Generation

CHAPTER 3

Energy Extraction From Toxic

Waste Originating From Food

Processing Industries

Debabrata Barik
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, India

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Food waste is a social problem with far-reaching consequences, many of
which are incompletely or inadequately characterized by current frame-
works. For instance, while the impact of food waste to global food secu-
rity may be theorized, the full range of socioeconomic and environmental
consequences related to food production and waste is only beginning to
emerge. Interactions among food waste, water, and energy resources, envi-
ronmental quality, and social justice suggest that broad-scale changes in food
production and waste management may curb inefficiencies and externalities
on many levels.
Food waste is a complex problem, and one that likely requires a com-
bination of technology-based solutions and direct public interventions and
incentive structures to alter consumer disposal behaviors. This requires at-
tention at three levels; first, at the individual unit of analysis, a focus on
the behavior of consumers in response to regulatory incentives and self-
motivated waste prevention actions; second, at the local level, a focus on
the governance mechanisms that may minimize food waste by residential,
commercial, and institutional actors; and third, at higher levels of gover-
nance, investments to large-scale application of technological advancements
seeking to capture waste and extract alternative forms of energy and ma-
terials. Food waste may never completely be eliminated; however, there
are significant opportunities to minimize waste and convert the waste into
useful forms of energy [1].
In food processing industries, waste is produced from the separation of
the desired products from undesired by-products [2–4]. Such food industry
wastes are product-specific, and therefore, the composition of the waste

Energy from Toxic Organic Waste for Heat and Power Generation © 2019 Elsevier Ltd.
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