Estimation of greenhouse gases emitted by the biodigester bale during the organic waste treatment

Nowadays, there are diverse treatment systems of organic waste, the most widely known ones are the composting, vermicomposting, and anaerobic digestion, in which the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) has been studied. One of the methods that has gained social and scientific recognition and acceptance in the recent decades is the biodigester bale, thanks to the ease of installation and operation and quality of the compost. Due to the studies developed about gas production in biodigester bales are emerging, this research seeks to estimate the GHG emission and reduction in the system through the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the GHG calculator of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). 11 50 cm edge biodigester bales were built, distributed in four municipalities of Antioquia, Colombia, which treated 567 kg of organic waste, produced 170.1 kg of compost, emitted 108.6 kgCO2eq and avoided the release of 6.73 kgCO2eq to the atmosphere. It is concluded that the biodigester bale is a viable treatment alternative to mitigate the GHG emissions.