Methane production from beet pulp

The applicability of untreated or alkali treated beet pulp (BP), a waste product of the sugar industry in Egypt, for methane production was examined. The daily methane yields varied in a stochastic manner. The values fluctuated throughout the experiment after an initial increase which occurred in the first 10–15 d. The average composition of the gas produced from the alkali treated BP was 43–71% methane and 57–29% CO 2. On the other hand, using untreated BP, a lower methane content (31–57%) and higher CO 2 (from 69-43%) were obtained. The volatile fatty acids profile was also variable and was less stochastic as was the methane yield.