Research Question
How effective is composting food waste in enhancing sustainability and reducing the effects of climate change?
Search Terms and Combinations
The following key terms are used to identify and scrutinize references and study materials.
- “Food waste” and sustain*
- “Food waste” and compost and environment*
- “Compost bio* and “Food waste”
- “Carbon sequestration” and compost
- “Carbon sequestration” and “compost bio*” and sustain*
- “Carbon sequestration” and “compost bio*” and “climate change”
- “Carbon sequestration” and “compost bio*” and “global warming”
Database Repositories
The following databases and repositories were used.
- Science Direct.
- Web of Science.
- Academia.
- Scopus.
Annotated Bibliography
Byun, J., Kwon, O., Park, H., & Han, J. (2021). Food waste valorization to green energy vehicles: Sustainability assessment. Energy & Environmental Science, 14(7), 3651-3663. Web.
All the authors teach at the School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Korea. In their work, the authors study the relationship between increases in amounts of food waste and the realization of a sustainable society. The study also scrutinizes the impact of green vehicles that are due to uncontrolled population growth. While the study is mainly focused on the transportation of food waste and sustainable development, it also explores the impact of different types of green vehicles employed in the venture. Four types of green vehicles are examined with respect to the fuel produced from food waste. The different types of green fuels studied in this case are used in internal combustion engines and include biomethane, bioethanol, biohydrogen, and bioelectricity. The study notes that Brazil, China, the USA, and India are the biggest producers of food waste and also have the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gases. Fuel Cell Vehicles running on biohydrogen are the most sustainable as they can travel between 220 and 250 miles for every one tome of food waste utilized. The study concludes that over 7 million fuel cell vehicles can be run using only 20% of the food waste produced in the four mentioned countries by the year 2030. Such solutions present a stepping stone for researchers, entrepreneurs, and other environment protection activists in achieving ideal sustainability and reducing the adverse effects of climate change.
Anderson, R., Bayer, P. E., & Edwards, D. (2020). Climate change and the need for agricultural adaptation. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 56, 197-202. Web.
Dr. Anderson is an associate professor and the University College of Dublin. He is attached to the school of Biosystems and Food Engineering and has authored different publications on the link between agricultural sustainability and climate change. The author looks at different scientific phenomena including global warming, eutrophication effects on decomposition, biocharacteristics, and its composition. He employed the GaBI version 6 to study the lifecycle of agricultural produce and how it can be harnessed sustainably. The study explored the process of food production, from planting, sustaining in the farms, harvesting, processing, logistics, and waste management. The tools and mechanisms used in agricultural processes such as planting, storage, and subsequent processing produce a lot of greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. The study recommends the use of energy-efficient machinery and tools in all steps of agricultural processes. It also recommends proper processing of food waste within sources such as farms and industrial enterprises.. Paying attention to the handling of waste from raw and processed food products, there is a significant emission of greenhouse gases that can be eliminated by encompassing effective preservation mechanisms. Although the authors recommend already existing solutions, it is challenging to gather the political will needed to limit the number of fossil fuels used in agricultural processes to achieve sustainability. The recommendations provide a further starting point for the current environmental protection and sustainable climate change mitigation efforts already in place.
Research-Based Solutions
Institutions of higher learning are focussed on attaining total sustainability by researching authentic and reliable solutions to food waste management. Arizona State University (ASU) is one such institution and is determined to fully manage all food waste generated within its premises. Such institutions should be at the forefront of researching, validating, and verification of sustainable solutions to climate change and global warming. While a significant fraction of the global population risks hunger yearly, most of the food waste generated globally ends up in landfills, resulting in greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide (Zero Waste Annual Report Fiscal Year, 2018). The report revealed the unknown and least addressed dangers of food waste that end in landfills. Institutions of higher learning do not pay much attention to humanitarian activities so that they can effectively utilize food waste within their premises. It makes them better placed to venture into nonpartisan research and development of sustainable solutions like a biochar facility in the case of ASU. Scholars have proven that biochar combined with compost is extremely effective in sequestering carbon (Liang et al., 2021). The process ensures carbon is absorbed back into the soil instead of being released from landfills into the atmosphere where its impacts are devastating.
To curb this problem, greenhouse gases can be reduced by preventing the generation of carbon dioxide released from landfills dumped with food waste.
ASU is chartered to reach a zero-waste status by the year 2025, implying that its waste will no longer end up in landfills as is the case currently. Reports indicate that most of the institution’s food waste comes from food courts, dining halls, and cafeterias, an indication of how its food-handling operations are flawed (Tsai and Chang, 2019). The institution intends to construct an onsite biochar facility for investigative and sustainable food waste handling. The project will help achieve logistical, environmental, financial, and strategic goals. It will also ensure the institution achieves great soil quality with will benefit the surrounding agricultural areas. The biochar production facility can achieve zero carbon emission by utilizing green machinery and equipment such as those running on renewable sources of energy, unlike the current situation. The facility will be used for both research and environmental purposes as the institution will update its research databases on food handling, carbon sequestration as well as biochar technologies.
Although the institution may opt for other carbon neutralization processes, specifically tree planting, its cost implications may surpass the construction of a biochar facility on site. The institution stands to benefit from research and experiments similar to that carried out by Byun (2021) in studying the comparisons of conventional fertilizers to biochar, compost as well as a combination of both. An onsite facility will result in a reduction in carbon emission, improvement of soil quality for agricultural purposes, creation of jobs, and reduction of operational costs, hence, achieving true sustainability in all areas of investment. The onsite biochar facility presents more advantages than any anticipated costs, cutting across finance, environment, jobs, agriculture as well as economic and ecological aspects of flora and fauna.
References
Liang, Y., Al-Kaisi, M., Yuan, J., Liu, J., Zhang, H., Wang, L., Cai, H., & Ren, J. (2021). Effect of chemical fertilizer and straw-derived organic amendments on continuous maize yield, soil carbon sequestration and soil quality in a Chinese Mollisol. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 314, 107403. Web.
Tsai, C. C., & Chang, Y. F. (2019). Carbon dynamics and fertility in biochar-amended soils with excessive compost application. Agronomy, 9(9), 511. Web.
Zero Waste Annual Report Fiscal Year (2018). Arizona State University. Web.