ENERGY GENERATION FROM EFFLUENT WASTE AT
DANDORA SEWERAGE TREATMENT PLANT,
NAIROBI COUNTY (KENYA)
MERCY ACHIENG OMOLO (B. Sc. ENV. SCIENCE)
MASTERS STUDENT
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
NAIROBI, KENYA

BACKGROUD INFORMATION
• One of the discussions at COP27 was the need for
a fast mitigating sprint for methane reduction
• Methane is the 2nd most abundant anthropogenic
GHG accounting for 20% of global emissions
• CH4 has a higher GW-P 20 times > CO2
• It’s short-lived. It has a heavy short-term impact
on the atmosphere.
• Significant reduction of methane would have a
rapid and significant effect on atmospheric
warming potential.

Cont…
• My case study showcases one of the
anthropogenic sources of methane to the
environment and how this problem can be
converted into a resource=clean energy that
would then be beneficial to the community
around DSTP.

• Project is in Ruai, Nairobi, Kenya
• Total population of 72,134 with a total
of 22,755 households
• The area is associated with low-
income earners who depend largely on
cheap unclean energy sources (
paraffin, charcoal )
• Health-related complications such as
respiratory infections and air pollution.

STUDY AREA
Anaerobic ponds at
Dandora Wastewater
Treatment Plant
Series 1-8 ponds

Cont….
• DSTP is one of the largest stabilizing ponds in
Africa treating about 80% of all domestic waste
in Nairobi, Kenya.
• It deploys the Anaerobic Digestion process in the
treatment of wastewater. Main by product-
Biogas (CH4 and CO2). CH4 = GHG.
• The biogas produced at DSTP is currently
unquantified and released uncaptured into the
atmosphere thus contributing to GW.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Main Objective
I. To minimize the effects of methane on the
environment as a result of CH4 production at
DSTP.
Specific Objectives
I. To quantify the amount of methane produced
at DSTP.
II. To determine the degree to which conversion
of CH4 gas to energy can reduce GHG
emissions to the atmosphere.

How it is beneficial to Kenya
• Key contributors to GHG emissions in Kenya
include the Agriculture sector (62.8%), the
Energy sector (31.2%), the Industrial
processes sector (4.6%), and the waste sector
(1.4%).
• Kenya is a signatory to Paris Agreement
• Kenya submitted its NDC targets in 2020 with
a target to abate emissions by 32% by 2030
relative to the Business As Usual (BAU)
scenario of 143Mt CO2eq

FINDINGS
Design of
the pond BOD LOAD
BOD
loading
Rate
(g.m3.d)
BOD Removal
(71%) g.d
BOD converted
to biogas (90%)
m3/d
Methane
Content
per pond
(m3/day)
No. of
Ponds
Total Methane
Generated
(m3/day)
5,000 2,560,000 472 1,817,600 1,635,840 263 2 526.7
3,333 1,706,496 315 1,075,092 967,583 156 3 467.3
7,778 3,982,336 348 2,588,518 2,329,667 375 3 1125.2
7,778 3,982,336 129 1,592,934 1,433,641 231 3 692.4
2811.7

Total Energy Value for biogas generated
Series Energy Value (MJ/day)
Series 1 13169
Series 2 11684
Series 3 28131
Series 4-8 17311
Total 70294

Discussion
• In terms of energy generation
– Energy content of LPG gas = 46.1MJ/kg
– Total energy per day from Dandara is estimated at
@70294MJ/day =Equivalent to 254 6kg gas cylinders/d
Support about 1270 households daily
• In terms of emission reduction
– Potential Emissions Reductions (tCO2-e)
= approx. 6260 tCO2-eq per annum

In Conclusion
• There exists a potential to generate methane
from DSTP, this can then be collected and
transformed into energy that can be used within
the site- Conversion of a problem to a resource
• There’s a need to quantify methane produced
from all the small emitters geographically
dispersed –what gets measured gets managed
• Need to make a good business case for all the
waste projects to attract investors-Negative cost