Due to the rapid increase of population in rural areas, specifically in Dakhlia Governorate, and the limited dwelling areas, the solid waste emanating either from stables, large animal stocks or agricultural waste causes hygienic problems, air pollution, water pollution, effects on the ecological balance and greater risk of dangerous fire.
Anaerobic digestion is considered as one of the new trends in solid waste disposal. The anaerobic fermentation processes employed in/or by :
1- Industrial and municipal sewage treatment facilities.
2- Agricultural and animal biogas systems.
3- Garbage dumps/landfills.
For industrial and municipal waste water treatment plants the prime objective is to stabilize the sludge and exploit the biogas as an energy carrier for fueling the thermal process.
The anaerobic treatment of liquid manure from intensive livestock units should be carried out for the following reasons :
(1) Breakdown of smells.
(2) Production of biogas.
(3) Improvement of fertilizer properties.
For sanitary landfills/dump sites, utilization of anaerobic treatment permits the collection of the inevitably produced biogas in a beneficial form.
The objective of this paper is to introduce the framework of the feasibility study for the evaluation of the biogas, produced from biofermentation of agricultural and animal waste and sewage sludge either for electricity generation or direct combustion. Also, the sludge produced from biofermentation would be evaluated as fertilizer or fodder additives as compared to its use in the raw form.