Opportunities for waste to energy in the milk production industry: Perspectives for the circular economy

Miguel Casallas-Ojeda, Luz Elba Torres-Guevara, Diana M. Caicedo-Concha, María F. Gómez

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cheese whey is a waste produced in the dairy industry which generates problems if it is dumped directly into the sewer due to its high organic load. An alternative for cheese whey management is anaerobic digestion, a biological process that transforms organic matter into biogas and digestate, two products with significant energy and agricultural potential. This work was aimed at contributing to the building of knowledge about the anaerobic degradation of cheese whey, developing a bibliometric analysis, and tracing trends in related research from 2010 up to the present, using PRISMA® to develop a systematic review based on Scopus® and using Excel® and bibliometric software (VosViewer® and RefViz®) for the identification of information. Our results show that the research around cheese whey is relatively recent and that the highest percentage of publications is from 2018 onwards. Twelve variables of the anaerobic cheese whey degradation process were identified and grouped into five factors: substrate, reactor configuration, digestate analysis, microbiological analysis, and inoculum. Likewise, it was identified that most of the anaerobic processes allow the implementation of the circular economy into the dairy sector. In conclusion, the application of anaerobic digestion in the dairy sector can help to close the productive cycles, produce biofuels, and reduce pollution.

Original languageEnglish
Article number12892
JournalSustainability
Volume13
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Computer Science (miscellaneous)
  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Keywords

  • Anaerobic co-digestion
  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Bioenergy
  • Biofuels
  • Cheese whey
  • Circular economy
  • Digestate

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