Methane potential of food waste from Engineering Faculty Cafeteria in Universitas Indonesia

Food is one of basic human needs to survive and is the reason why food production and any related activities are conducted; to fulfill its demand. In fact, one-third of all produced foods for human consumption is lost or wasted before consumed. Food waste has become one of global concerns because of its massive amount and it emits Green House Gases (GHG) such as methane (CH₄) when it decomposes. On the other hand, methane is one of biogas component which can be used as a source of alternative energy hence it has a good potential. This study aims to analyze the methane potential of food waste from Engineering Faculty Cafeteria, Universitas Indonesia and was conducted from February to May 2015. Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) and Anaerobic Digester (AD) were conducted consecutively as methods. Rumen fluid and cow dung were used as inoculums for BMP and cow dung was used for AD as it had a better result. After 31 days of BMP incubation in 35°-37°C, the result shows that food waste with cow dung inoculum produced more methane. The biogas production is 0.14 mL CH₄/g VS with 29.85 mL of methane on its peak (day 20); and 80.06% VS reduction. Food waste with rumen fluid as its inoculum has biogas production 0.014 mL CH₄/g VS; reached 3 mL of methane (day 10) on its peak; and 70.34% as its VS reduction. Meanwhile for AD, after 55 days of operation, there was no methane generated due to excessive amount of Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA).