Research Rationale
Although the recovery of energy from wastes is not a new idea, its implementation continues to be challenging in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Also, as a result of economic development, increasing population, and industrialization, the problems arising from expanded consumption and reduced resources have become more serious than ever (Tõnissoo, 2012). This paper provides a proposal for using recyclable waste as a transport fuel in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The rationale for this proposal is that if wastes are used to generate fuel for transport, there will be many advantages accrued from such a venture. First, there will be a reduction of air and water pollution as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that are largely responsible for global warming. This reduction is based on the fact that the process proposed in this paper involves using wastes that would have otherwise been released to the environment. Secondly, there will be huge cost savings associated with the production of transport fuel. The processes that may be used to refine waste material/ gasses for the production of transport fuel are less cost intensive than those used to extract petroleum-based fuels. Thirdly, the fuels produced from the waste material have lower carbon content than conventional petroleum fuels.
Aims/ Objectives
The purpose of this study is to explore the potential for using recyclable waste as a transport fuel in the KSA. This study will involve exploring the use of biodegradable gas in Saudi Arabia and exploring the extent to which key players in the energy sector believe in its potential as a transport fuel.
Literature Review
Khan & Kaneesamkandi (2013) evaluated waste generation in KSA for energy recovery purposes and showed that conversion of green waste to biofuel poses as not only an environmentally-friendly prospect but also can be financially rewarding. They explored anaerobic digestion since the largest portion of the wastes produced was an organic waste. Khan & Kaneesamkandi (2013) noted that petroleum-based fuels remained the most important energy sources in the transport sector, but highlighted a source of hope in the fact that the King Abdullah Research Center intended to develop 3 GW of energy from waste products. Although this study did not highlight the use of wastes to generate fuel for transportation, it underlines the potential of renewable energy in KSA.
Tõnissoo (2012) conducted a feasibility study on the potential for introducing biogas buses in the Baltic region’s Tartu City. Tõnissoo explored the fact that the available biogas sources would be enough to cover all the fuel needs for urban buses in Tartu City, Estonia (Tõnissoo, 2012). There were 51 urban buses, and the average fuel consumption of the buses would be 39kg/100km. Also, Tõnissoo explored the Aardlapalu landfill and established that the volume was 2.4Mm3 of biogas, equivalent to 1.55Mm3 of biomethane (Tõnissoo, 2012). The municipal wastes potential for Tartu City is 904,125 m3 of biogas that is equivalent to 540,000 m3 of biomethane. He noted that the challenges involved included lack of experiences, environmental effect of biogas, bad odors, noise, air and dust pollution, maintenance costs and the high financial outlay (Tõnissoo, 2012). Advantages include reduced fuel costs and proper utilization of wastes.
Ahonen (2010) explains the processes involved in converting biogas into a motor fuel. He highlights four main technologies used in the world to refine biogas into a motor fuel. The first method is absorption, which is based on the ability of CO2 to dissolve better than methane in the absorbent. This process involves the use columns. The biogas enters at the bottom and moves upwards through the absorbent (Ahonen, 2010). The CO2 dissolves while methane gas is left in a pure state. The second process, adbsorption involves the use of a charcoal sieve or molecular sieve. This sieve adsorbs CO2 leaving methane (Ahonen, 2010). The third method involves the use of a membrane that allows CO2 to pass through, and methane gas is trapped. The method is based on the fact that different gas molecules have different sizes. The fourth approach is known as the cryo technique. It utilizes the different boiling points of the two gasses. Methane boils at -160°C and CO2 at -78°C. Biogas is cooled until the CO2 condensates (Ahonen, 2010). This research provides the technical aspects on how biogas is refined into motor fuel.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) (2009) examined the use of methane gas as an alternative vehicle fuel when compressed. Solid waste management processes, according to IEA (2009), emit methane gas in large quantities. Instead of flaring the gas to prevent it from acting as a greenhouse gas, the IEA proposes using it because it is a clean energy resource (IEA, 2009). This report highlights a major advantage of methane gas, a byproduct of solid waste management, as a clean source of energy. When burnt, methane gas does not pollute the environment. Although there are many barriers to using Landfill Gas (LFG) has a bright future as a transportation fuel (IEA, 2009). This study highlights the potential of biogas.
Al-Turki, El-Hadidi & Al-Yahya (2004) examined the use of date pits as potential sources of biogas as well as organic fertilizers. Anaerobic fermentation digesters installed and operated at King Saud University were used to study the effect of mixing animal feces and dates on the production of biogas. Al-Turki, El-Hadidi & Al-Yahya (2004) underline the high calorific value of biogas and compare its properties to those of natural gas. They indicate that equipment used to derive energy from natural gas may be modified to operate with biogas. Such equipment includes combustion engines such as those found on vehicles (Al-Turki, El-Hadidi & Al-Yahya, 2004). This research, carried out in KSA, provides an important underpinning for subsequent studies in this region.
Research Questions
There are several research questions that underpin this research. These questions will guide further exploration of the potential of using recyclable wastes as sources of transport fuel in KSA. The research questions capture the objectives of the study while highlighting the path that the researcher will adopt. The following are the research questions.
What is the potential for using recyclable wastes as sources of transport fuel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Are there any companies working on projects regarding the utilization of gasses from recyclable wastes as a transport fuel?
What are the best approaches for converting recyclable wastes into motor fuels?
Scope of the research
This research will be partly qualitative and partly quantitative, in that it will involve an exploration of KSA’s solid waste management sector to obtain information on the amount of biogas collected from the landfills, and its potential in generating usable quantities of transport fuels. It will also involve exploring the options for refining the biogas to produce motor fuel. The qualitative part of the research will involve interviewing key players and personnel in KSA’s solid waste management sector to obtain their perspectives/ opinions on the prospect of transport fuel generation. The research also relies heavily on a comprehensive review of literature that will provide theoretical frameworks for the study, as well as a comparative look at how other regions in the world are generating transport fuels from solid waste.
Research Design
This research is highly qualitative but also has quantitative underpinnings. It involves a questionnaire as a survey instrument. A sample of personnel and management will be picked randomly from KSA’s major solid waste management outfits and issued with questionnaires. The interview process will collect information on the participants’ opinions about the prospect of refining the biogas from landfills to produce motor fuel for transportation. Their responses will be recorded on a Likert-type scale that aims to convert qualitative information into quantitative values that will be analyzed using statistical approaches to gauge KSA’s potential in generating transport fuel. Further, the research will collect information on the quantity of biogas generated from the waste management landfills and gauge its suitability for large-scale production of fuel that may be used to power vehicles. This process will involve energy formulae derived from the reviewed literature and applied to the data from KSA.
Ethical Issues
Various ethical issues arise from this project. For example, the information provided by respondents is sensitive. From an ethical standpoint, this information should not be associated with their names. This research eliminates this ethical issue by keeping respondent information private. The questionnaire will bear a confidentiality clause that assures the respondents that information provided will be used purely for research purposes. Any use of respondent information must be accompanied by proof of permission by the individual respondent.
Another ethical issue that may arise in the course of this research involves lack of attribution for theories or concepts derived by other researchers. It is ethically wrong to use the theories or ideas of another person without crediting them. This ethical violation is often referred to as plagiarism. This research eliminates the likelihood of this ethical breach by citing all theories and ideas borrowed from other texts of research. This approach ensures that all the ideas represented in the paper as new ideas belong to the researcher.
Proposed Project management
Although the research milestone dates may change, the rough estimate for the project time is three months or approximately 100 days. Some of the processes required for this research will be ongoing while some will have to wait for the data from the respondents to be collected. As shown in the Gantt Chart below,
Figure 1: Gantt Chart Showing Research Schedule
Resources required
Several resources will be required for this study. These resources include funds to cover travel expenses to Saudi Arabia. Also, statistical software such as MS Excel or SPSS will be used in this research. The literature consulted for this study is listed in the bibliography section.
References
Ahonen. S. (2010). Aluellinen liikennebiokaasun tuotanto, siirto ja jakelu - esimerkkitapauksena KeskiSuomen maakunta. Jyväskylän Yliopisto, Bio- ja ümpäristötieteiden laitos. Master thesis. Jyväskylä 2010.
Al-Turki, I., El-Hadidi, Y., & Al-Yahya, S. (2004). Utilization of date pits as a potential source of biogas and organic fertilizer. Food, Agriculture & Environmen, 2(2), 369-374.
IEA, (2009). Energy Sector Methane Recovery and Use: The Importance of Policy.International Energy Agency (IEA), 1(1), 1-41.
Khan, M. & Kaneesamkandi, Z. (2013). Biodegradable waste to biogas: Renewable energy option for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. International Journal Of Innovation And Applied Studies, 2(1), 101-113.
Tõnissoo, T. (2012). Feasibility study on the introduction and use of biogas buses in the Tartu City. Baltic Biogas Bus, 1(2), 4-77.
