ABSTRACT
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biochemical process made up of four stages; hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. The AD has three end products: a solid, a liquid and a gas. The solids and liquids, the digestates: acidogenic digestate and methanogenic digestate, are produced at the four stages of the AD process and as a result they have different components, meaning that they have different benefits and, consequently, different potential uses. This solid digestate has many potential uses: as animal bedding, garden compost, mulch, to produce building materials, specifically fibre boards, and as an alternative fuel. The AD process itself is regulated from beginning to end in order to include the selection of appropriate feedstocks to the application of digestate as a fertiliser. Research has indicated that the local governments and regulatory bodies of various countries are encouraging a focus on developing the market for digestate.
