Dutch Based Water Treatment and Energy Technology Company Paques Closes 2010 Positively

Paques, the water treatment, and anaerobic digestion for energy production, technology provider which has completed hundreds of anaerobic purification installations which according to their web site produce a total amount of biogas which is sufficient to meet the natural gas requirements of a city with 1.4 million inhabitants (about twice the size of Amsterdam), has today announced good company growth figures.

The water technology company from the Netherlands says that it ended 2010 well. The order intake increased by about 25% to almost 54 million euro, bringing it back to the level before the financial crisis. Both turnover and net profit remained virtually unchanged compared to 2009.

These figures are the consolidated result of the operational activities of Paques Balk in the Netherlands and Paques Shanghai in China. Paques Shanghai has continued the growth of the previous years. 2010 was still a difficult year for the operation in the Netherlands due to a reserved investment policy of customers.

However, trading conditions have evidently been improving, and in the Paques press release they report that a strong recovery was observed in the fourth quarter.

Because this growth continues in the first quarter of 2011, it seems that the recovery is structural in particularly Europe and North America.

They also report an optimistic outlook with good demand for technologies that provide solutions for water scarcity, and that production of green energy is expected to increase. Therefore, they are looking with confidence to the future where and they will continue to focus on innovation and market development with a strong focus on local presence in growth markets, Managing Director Rob Heim has stated.

Also on their web site, the well established company notes that it is converting biogas into electricity through its technology in impressive quantities already.

Its projects generate approximately 3,000,000 MWh of electrical power per year, representing a value of 2 to 3 hundred million euro per year. In less than a single year, they say that efficient use of biogas can result in a full return on investment!

As many more people are realizing, the combination of environmental and economical value characterize biogas as a very attractive source of green energy.

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Consultant Secures green light for Kent waste treatment plant

Release date: 23rd March 2011

SLR Consulting has assisted waste management and recycling company Countrystyle Recycling to secure planning approval for a waste treatment and recycling plant at Sellindge near Folkestone.

The proposed facility in East Kent will treat up to 20,000 tonnes of organic waste a year using Anaerobic Digestion technology while a Material Recycling Facility will deal with around 75,000 tonnes of dry recyclable material.

The green light for the scheme was given by Kent County Council (KCC) councillors who voted 14 - 3 in favour of the plans, which had previously been recommended for approval by planning officers. Proposals for the site, located on a redundant quarry and asphalt production site on the A20, near Folkestone, have been the focus of considerable local opposition.

SLR Technical Director Nigel Cronin, spoke on behalf of Countrystyle in the three-hour debate that preceded the vote:

"We were keen to emphasise that the new plant would ensure that locally generated waste would no longer need to be transported 30 miles away to be landfilled and that the scheme is in accordance with National, Regional and Kent County Council local policies for the location of waste management facilities."

Otterpool is one of several waste projects that SLR has helped steer through to planning approval in Kent and the South East in the last year. The multi-disciplinary consultancy carried out all the planning and environmental impact assessment work for the development which covered traffic, air quality, landscape, groundwater and noise impacts - all of which were of local concern.

Niall Cormac-Walshe, Technical Director at Countrystyle said:

"We have been continually impressed by SLR's expertise in guiding the scheme through a lengthy planning process which has resulted in KCC's approval and we look forward to working with them through the next stage of the development programme"

Weltec develops biogas plant in Latvia - BioEnergy News

Weltec develops biogas plant in Latvia

8 April 2011

Germany-based biogas plant manufacturer Weltec Biopower is developing its second biogas plant in the city of Limbaži, Latvia.

Upon completion the plant will generate 500kW power. The 3,500m3 fermenter will feed in the power from July 2011 and plans for expanding the plant with another fermenter are already underway.

The biogas facility will handle 3,500 tonnes of cattle manure, 1,900 tonnes of cow waste, 500 tonnes of whole plant silage, 300 tonnes of grass silage and 7,000 tonnes of maize silage.

The 88m3 stainless-steel storage tank is heated and the two 250kW gas-powered engines will produce biogas for 8,000 hours a year.

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Global Biogas Plants Market to Reach $8.98 Billion by 2017

The Global Biogas Plants Market is to Reach $8.98 Billion by 2017, according to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. -

Biogas is a clean gas obtained from biomass, a renewable energy resource derived from food processing wastes, sewage treatment sludge, as well as animal and human excreta. Narrowing cost differential between fossil fuels based electricity generation and biogas energy in recent years has further augmented interest in renewable resources. Today, biogas competes on par with petroleum-based fuels in terms of performance, cost, and other additional benefits such as reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Biogas is primarily used as a fuel for cooking and lighting purposes in various countries, whilst a key motivating factor for development of liquid biofuels is to replace petroleum fuels. Advances in biotechnology, molecular science, and microbiology contributed to enhancements in biogas yields production, which led to the development of commercial biogas plant. Biogas plants can convert energy crops, organic industrial and municipal solid waste, and manure, into efficient fertilizer and reduce the odors associated with traditional manure management. In terms of both consumption and production of biogas, Europe is ahead of the other nations mainly due to increased government regulation for environment friendly initiatives. Although, Europe dominates biogas production, the trend is also catching up fast in countries like Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the US. The Asia-Pacific biogas plants market is displaying strong appetite for growth, thanks to the continuous infrastructure development and business expansion in the region, especially in the emerging markets such as China and India.

The recent worldwide economic recession has not had much impact on the global biogas plants market, as the prospects for such emerging renewable energy technology are stored for future. The growing clamor over cleaner and environmental friendly energy technologies is offering new market opportunities for alternative energy solutions such as biogas. However, biogas plant market is resilient and not immune from the business cycle. Recent turmoil in the global credit markets, and substantial reductions in asset value across business enterprises and households resulted in reduced energy requirements and difficulties in obtaining finance for biogas and other renewable energy projects. This coupled with poorly performing foreign markets and high substrate prices that reached its peak in September 2008, scuttled all previously set targets. At the same time, the cost of natural gas delivered to electric power plants declined in 2009 to nearly half the 2008 level and that coupled with significant expansions of pipelines capacity had cast downward pressure on biogas prices. Government stimulus packages proved to be the silver lining from the downturn in the global economy. Various government policies, in terms of subsidies, incentives and investments by the biopower companies shielded the biogas plants market from the devastating effect of crisis.

As stated by the new market research report, Europe and United States accounts for a lion's share of the global biogas
plants market. Biogas plants market is primarily localized in Europe, with Germany accounting for a major share of the global production and consumption, while the UK, Italy and Spain represent other significant regional markets. While the continued difficult economic scenario is a factor to consider, the industry trends bear out an optimistic assessment, as fundamental market drivers for renewable technologies continue to remain strong. Innovations will continue in processes and feedstocks, while companies, government, and academic institutions pour in funds and expertise to support research and development in the field of renewables.

Israel - Treasury official halts biogas plan - Globes

The Ministry of Finance representative at the Public Utilities Authority (Electricity) earlier this week blocked approval of regulations for the generation of electricity from biogas. The Public Utilities Authority was due to set a 160 megawatt quota for biogas facilities using municipal and agricultural waste.

According to the principles of the hearing, published in October 2010, the government would pay biogas ventures a relatively low rate of NIS 0.60 per kw/h, compare with NIS 1.55 per kw/h promised for small photovoltaic energy facilities.

However, the Ministry of Finance representative, Udi Adiri, said that a 2009 cabinet decision required the cabinet to first decide on the quota. He therefore decided not to approve the arrangement at this time.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - http://www.globes-online.com/ - on April 7, 2011

? Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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New UK Biogas Plant to Strengthen the Market

The biogas plant at Staples Vegetables is now in operation and will help expand biogas production in the UK.

On 1 March 2011, Xergi handed over a new biogas plant to one of Britain's largest vegetable producers at Wrangle, near Boston in Lincolnshire.

The new plant is the first of five biogas plants to receive support from WRAP, the British Waste Recycling Action Programme. Colin Steel, Xergi's Country Manager UK, predicts that the opening of this plant will help expand biogas production in the UK.

"Potential investors in new biogas plants are hesitant and they are keen to ensure that these plants work as they should. There is no doubt that the opening of this plant will help speed up the establishment of new biogas plants in the UK," says Colin Steel. He notes that the new plant has attracted a great deal of interest from the British biogas industry.

He expects that the plant will also strengthen Xergi's position in the British biogas market, where there are many new projects in the pipeline. According to the British website Horticulture Week, there are plans to build more than 30 new biogas plants in the UK.

Waste is converted into energy and fertiliser
Staples Vegetables, as one of the UK's largest privately owned vegetable producers, supplies most of the main supermarkets. Every year the company produces a large quantity of vegetable waste which until recently was of no value to the company.

The biogas plant makes it possible to extract biogas from the waste and use the gas to produce energy in the form of electricity, heat and cooling. The plant will run on vegetable waste and maize silage, and the plant will process a total annual quantity of biomass of approx. 26,000 tons.

The biogas plant has capacity to produce 1.4 MW electricity and is expected to produce just over 11 million kWh electricity a year.

Staples Vegetables itself will use a large proportion of the electricity produced, but the plant will also supply green electricity to the National Grid corresponding to the annual consumption of 1,500 households. Surplus heat from electricity production will be used to heat the company's offices during the winter months, although most will be used to cool the company's warehouses. The cooling system is a heat absorption cooling system, which converts the energy in hot water into cooling.

Xergi has supplied a plant with the most advanced technology, including, for example, new technology to feed the reactor tanks with biomass, and for electronic monitoring and control of the processes inside the plant. The new technologies were a prerequisite to qualify for WRAP funding.

According to plan
Project Manager Steffen Busk Nielsen says that the Xergi project is running entirely according to plan.
The biological processes inside the biogas plant were started up in November 2010. By January, there was sufficient biogas production in the plant to start the plant's gas engine for the first time, which meant that production of electricity and heat could also begin. The absorption cooling system will be commissioned at a later date.

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