Performance of Biogas Produced by Co-Digesting Dairy Cattle Feces and Cattle Rumen Waste

This study aims to identify the performance of biogas made by co-digesting dairy cattle feces and cattle rumen waste. As we know, greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector are one of the main factors causing global warming and climate change. This sector accounts for about 14.5 of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. One of the contributors to emissions from this sector comes from cattle livestock. The concept of renewable energy can be one of the solutions to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector. The study used four treatments with different raw material mixtures for biogas. P0 consists of dairy cattle feces only; P1 consists of 75:25 of dairy cattle feces to cattle rumen waste; P2 consists of 50:50 of dairy cattle feces to cattle rumen waste; and P3 consists of 25:75 of dairy cattle feces to cattle rumen waste. Biogas is measured by CH4 production and flux results. The results showed that the co-digestion of rumen waste with dairy cattle feces increased CH4 production 2-3 times higher than rumen waste only, and it depended on the ratio of dairy cattle feces to rumen waste. We concluded that rumen waste can be an alternative raw material for biogas production. Optimal biogas production from rumen waste can be achieved if rumen waste is digested together with dairy cow feces (co-digestion) with a composition of 25:75. Optimal conditions refer to both results in CH4 yield and flux differing significantly from the digestion of rumen waste alone. Copyright © 2025 by the authors.