Recycling disposable bamboo chopstick waste as a renewable energy resource: Case study in Khon Kaen University, Thailand

This study focused on elucidating disposable bamboo chopstick (DBC) waste generation rate and identifying the appropriate carbonization temperature for recycling DBC waste as a renewable energy resource. A survey was conducted within the study area of Khon Kaen University (KKU). Of the student population of approximately 40,000, the questionnaire was completed by 470 students. The survey revealed a bamboo chopstick utilization rate equivalent to 0.46 pairs person− 1 d− 1. A carbonization process wit 1-h was carried out at 650 and at 900 °C to compare the quality of charcoal recycled from DBC (DBC charcoal). The DBC charcoal prepared at 650 °C was of a higher quality for use as fuel compared to 900 °C prepared DBC charcoal; with 5.3 times higher BET surface area (62 × 103 m2 kg− 1), 5% higher thermal efficiency (31%), 15 times higher hydrogen (H) content (1.9% of total mass content), and 1.0 MJ kg− 1 higher heating values by bombs calorimeter (32.8 MJ kg− 1). The utilization of DBC charcoal as the biomass fuel in gasification for electricity generation could produce 0.0395% of KKU consumption energy which was estimated to reduce CO2 emission by 12.9 t CO2 yr− 1 as well as waste generation at 43.7 t yr− 1 or 0.399% around KKU area.