Improved Biogas Production from Human Excreta Using Chicken Feather Powder: A Sustainable Option to Eradicating...

It has been proposed that providing energy for cooking and lighting would solve over 65% of energy needs in rural communities. The use of biomass resources has been found not sustainable as other bioproducts such as biodiesel and bioethanol depend on it. More so that there is a depletion of bioresources in some parts of the world. The shift into animal waste such as poultry droppings and cattle dung has huge prospects, but it is not sustainable in the long term as rural farmers depend on it. The use of human excreta is the most available and sustainable due to the human population. This research aims to provide a workable blueprint of biogas production to meet energy needs. The research considers a laboratory-scale experiment whose result is used to project the medium-scale biodigester. Microbial culturing from human waste is used to initiate the codigestion of human excreta and powdered chicken feathers. It is observed that this procedure drastically reduces the high nitrogen content in the biogas and improves its methane and carbon dioxide content. It is observed that the scaled-up biodigester in a worst case scenario can function at 67%. Design parameters are documented for the onward adoption of the technique.