Bioenergy Valorization of Banana Peel Waste through Enzymatic Hydrolysis: a Circular Economy Case in Machala, Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26439/ing.ind2025.n049.7991Keywords:
banana, hydrolysis, enzymes, biogas, circular economy, carbon bondsAbstract
Researchers utilized an anaerobic reactor to estimate the reduction of CO₂ emissions in Machala, Ecuador, through the enzymatic hydrolysis of mature banana peels. With a weight-to-volume ratio of 60 %, the researchers achieved an estimated reduction of 37,419 t CO₂/year (102,45 t/day), with a purity of 99,97 %. This research supports a circular economy approach, projecting annual carbon credit incentives of 2813,2 dollars from glucose syrup production, with even greater potential returns if the process is expanded to include bioethanol production. The hydrolysis process yielded 5,91 g⋅L-1 of glucose syrup. Furthermore, the bioeconomic potential of the resulting biogas is estimated between 21 and 24 million dollars, necessitating an initial investment of 2,5 to 2,6 million dollars. The absence of public financing incentives restricts private sector implementation. In contrast, producing bioethanol proves to be less profitable, especially when banana peels are used for generating biogas for electricity production.
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References
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