Ex Composting Assoc Chairman Warns: Even After ROCs Increase Anaerobic Digestion is Not Economic

Warning given over AD commercial success

A former chairman of the Composting Association, Trelawney Dampney, has warned councils against "charging off" down the anaerobic digestion route before checking if the technology is "commercially sensible".

Mr Trelawney Dampney, managing director of Eco Composting Ltd in Poole, said analysis carried out by his firm had found that the technology - which processes organic waste to produce electricity and a soil fertilizer - was not economically viable.

He said: "Everyone is charging off down this route without looking at basic economics of it- we need to have a reality check to make sure it is commercially sensible."

The technology has gained in popularity following the publication of the English waste strategy which promoted AD to treat source segregated bio-waste.

ROCs

And it has also attracted attention because under renewable energy rules, from 2009 operators can have double the standard amount of renewable obligation certificates - known as ROCs - allocated to the process which accordingly gives a larger financial benefit.

However, Mr Dampney claimed that even with these concessions, his company's analysis found against AD technology.

He explained: "From an economic perspective, you would need treble or even quadruple ROCs to make the technology economically viable. Councils need to consider whether the income from the power generated, outweighs any extra capital costs you need to put into the plant? Our analysis show in the short term it is not cheaper than in-vessel composting."

Mr Dampney pointed to examples in Europe which appeared to show in-vessel composting was a better financial option.

He explained: "On the continent small anaerobic digestion plants get 3 or 4 times ROCs which makes it economically viable. The UK is only offering double ROCs.

"You are looking at having a £2 million pound AD site for a 20,000 tonne capacity site whereas an IVC is likely to be around £1 million."

Your Blog Master is a great fan of Trelawney Dampney and he can hardly be wrong can he?

Please give your Blog Master, Steve your views on this. If commenting on the blog site is not to your liking or convenience please email me at info[at]anaerobic-digestion.com (replace [at] with "@"), and please give me permission to post your comments to this blog. We would all be delighted to hear your views, and especially views from any AD Plant owners, on this point.

Anaerobic Digestion Plant is Life-Changing Event for World's Largest Buffalo Colony

Anaerobic Digestion technology expert HiRAD(TM) is soon to complete installation of its AD pilot plant in Landhi Cattle Colony near Karachi Pakistan. Landhi Cattle Colony provides a unique opportunity for sustainable biogas production. It is home to over 400,000 Buffalo. This is the largest herd of these fine animals in the world.

It also presents both a waste problem and a great opportunity for HiRAD's Anaerobic Digestion system to solve it.

Currently over 8,000 tons per day of dung is produced, some of which is dumped on the land and some of which reaches the sea after some time lying in ditches, causing terrible pollution, risk of bacterial infection to inhabitants and bathers, and seriously damaging the marine eco-system.

Following on from the pilot, a full size plant is planned which HiRAD expects to be the largest manure biogas plant in the World. HiRAD will use this dung to produce over 118 million cubic metres (4.1 billion cubic feet) of biogas and 128,000 tons of organic fertiliser each year, providing employment for over 400 local workers.

The HiRAD plant will support electricity-generating capacity of over 40Mwe, but could alternatively provide over 170,000 Kg of LNG, enough to keep over 1000 buses running around Karachi. (Bus manufacturers worldwide take note!).

Projects of this magnitude require long term plannning and development, and this project is the culmination of almost 10 years work by New Zealand Consultancy Empower, and NEC of Karachi and HiRAD of UK.

Robert Orr, (HiRAD International Development Director) said:

"It is our privilege to participate in this trailblazing and life-changing enterprise, that will prevent over 1 million tons of CO2e reaching the atmosphere during its operational life, making this one of the largest ever CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects. The electricity produced will also help stimulate the local economy, and provide valuable additional revenue for the operator."

The project will also include a 20 bed maternity unit, a laboratory to enable improved milk yields and health for the Buffaloes and other facilities to improve the life of the people of Landhi.

For more information contact:

Robert Orr
International Development Director
HiRAD Ltd
UK Tel: +44(0)7985932921
Asia Tel: +92(0)3004074560
email: robertorr[at]hiradbioenergy.com - Please replace [at] with @
web: www.hiradbioenergy.com [Broken Link]

Anaerobic Digestion Projects to get a Boost from Research Showing Up UK’s Huge Food Waste Mountain

The British nation is appallingly wasteful of their food. The UK government has launched a plea for a return to the thrifty approach of previous generations by buying less and eating leftover food.

Each year, the UK dumps 6.7 million tonnes, of food. Furthermore, most of the waste - which nationally costs £8bn to treat or dispose of – is sent to landfill where it rots, potentially emitting the potent climate-change gas methane.

The public must realise that while they are scraping food into the bin they are directly fuelling climate change. Waste food now presents a bigger environmental problem than packaging.

The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a government-funded agency that has been investigating food waste, complained that consumers were, in effect, dumping one in three bags of shopping straight in the bin.

In an attempt to change attitudes, Wrap has devised a campaign "Love Food Hate Waste", launched at Borough Market in London yesterday by Ms Ruddock and the TV chefs Ainsley Harriott and Paul Merrett. Wrap's estimate of waste was compiled after polling almost 3,000 households and getting 300 people to keep diaries of what food they threw away. Most waste arose because people had "over-shopped" for a variety of reasons.

This is a Summarised version of a much larger article at The Anaerobic Digestion Community Web Site (Food Waste).