Advancing renewable methane production from municipal food waste using applied genomics

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There is a growing worldwide interest in anaerobic digestion (AD) as a waste treatment technology to promote resource recovery in the form of biogas (biofuel) and nutrient-rich digestate (fertilizer). Biogas is a flexible energy source that can be further processed for use in combined heat and electricity production, or upgraded into renewable natural gas. If fully realized, the AD industry in Canada could support 1,800 biogas plants with an economic potential of $21 billion in revenue to the Canadian economy. Thus, AD plays a central role in establishing a bio-based circular economy in Canada by converting waste into high value resources. Although AD is an established technology, its stability can be severely inhibited, and the process can even fail when lacking precise operational control and optimization. One of the key factors influencing the stability and efficiency of AD is the composition of the microbial community. Current advancements in genomics technologies now enable the in-depth study of microbial populations, including taxonomic composition, genomic makeup, and gene expression. Such methods have great potential to improve AD technology control and monitoring by identifying key microbial drivers of process stability and performance. Within British Columbia, Renewi Canada Ltd. is demonstrating the value of AD by treating 115,000 tonnes of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste every year for the City of Surrey. The objectives of this work are to provide Renewi Canada Ltd. with a comprehensive understanding of the biological methane potential of the sub-fractions of their waste stream, elucidate operational parameters that influent the methane-production activity of their process, and use applied genomics to identify key microorganisms that are responsible for methane production from their influent food waste.