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Wiltshire’s first anaerobic digestion plant plant operated by Malaby Biogas, has opened for business. The first feed materials have fed into a new biodigester in Wiltshire, UK, after only 12 months of construction and commissioning trails. The biodigester is Wiltshire’s first large scale biogas plant, which became viable when it's promoter it was able to get £5 million ($7.7 million) in loan funding from Clydesdale Bank and the UK government's own WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme), joined in with financial assistance as part of the government’s own £10 million loan fund for biogas and CHP projects.
We have provided a quotation from the full article below. At the end of the extract we have provided a link to the full article, and we suggest that you use that to visit the original web site:
The plant will look to process 17,000 tonnes of food waste a year and produce around 500KW of electricity for the national grid. It will receive bulk feedstock from both commercial and municipal sources, including local businesses like schools, pubs and restaurants.
Minter believes it will take up to six months to get the plant up to full speed based on biology growth and the completion of operational milestones: ‘It is important that we build a stable and robust process to ensure this is one of the best running plants around.’
Not long ago we wrote about the bog opportunity that palm oil plantation waste provides for renewable energy production, so we are pleased to be able to carry this article as Sawit announces the success its first biogas plant.
(The video below is about biogas from palm oil, but the company is not associated with the organisation described in the article.)
The Sawit Kinabalu Group on Thursday officially launched that itwill develop a biogas power plant at its Apas Balung estate refinery in Tawau, which has proven very effective in reducing the estate's electricity cost.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who officiated at the opening, is confident that the presence of the biogas plant will also help the Group's image as an environment-friendly organisation, apart from reducing its operational costs.
He said the State Government very much welcomed the initiative, in line with its policies and halatuju which emphasises on sustainable economic development.
"I would like to stress that the State Government is committed in developing this State without disregarding environmental conservation," he said.
He also hoped more oil palm companies would emulate the move by the Group by venturing into new fields like biogas power plant development, which not only contributes to protecting the environment but also boosts the development of renewable energy in the State.
The Group's Managing Director, Othman Walat, who was also present, said the biogas plant has helped in the Group's effort to increase its efficiency and profit to RM3.28 million per annum.
The biogas plant has helped the Apas Balung estate refinery in reducing its diesel utilisation cost by 85 per cent, he said, adding the percentage is equivalent to increasing the refinery's production income by RM1.14 million a year.
Othman said that apart from reducing the refinery's production cost, because of the diesel utilisation cost, the biogas plant was also built primarily to help reduce environmental pollution in the Balung area.
"I was informed by the surrounding residents that since the biogas plant began its operation, bad smell coming from the refinery has significantly reduced. The liquid waste discharge from the refinery also went down from 91-100ppm to 30-40ppm or equivalent to a 60 per cent reduction," he said.
He said the Group intends to continue with this effort to boost further its production income through its "turning waste into wealth" project, that is making use of the oil palm waste for various purposes.
Among its plans are to build a livestock feed production mill based on palm waste at the estate as well as seven more biogas plants for its other refineries within the next five years, he said.
This is in line with the Group's mission to create sustainable wealth by running environment-friendly business, he said, adding all these are part of fulfilling the organisation's corporate obligation.
A Wiltshire-based rural property developer is diversifying into renewables, with plans to open its first anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Warminster next year.
Malaby Biogas, sister company of Malaby Martin Ltd, which has specialised in rural redevelopment for over 10 years, will begin commissioning the £5 million Bore Hill Farm Biodigester in the second quarter of 2012.
It will be Wiltshire’s first commercial AD plant and will be capable of processing up to 20,000 tonnes of commercial food waste and generating 500 kilowatts of green energy, the company said. The renewable energy will be fed into the National Grid, but will also supply nine business units set to open on the site in 2013, thereby creating jobs and offering low cost heat and power to commercial users.
"There is growing pressure on businesses in the food sector to dispose of their waste in a far more responsible and efficient manner than simply sending it to landfill," said Thomas Minter, director at Malaby Biogas, who added that by using local labour and British skills, Malaby was able to provide "real benefit in tough economic times."
In addition, Bore Hill Farm Biodigester will produce 15,000 tonnes of digestate which to be sold to farmers for agricultural use, as an alternative to traditional fertilizer.
STRASSEN, Luxembourg, October 18, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Enovos Luxembourg is successfully expanding its activities in the field of renewable energy and takes a share in the Biopower Tongeren N.V.
100% owned by Enovos International S.A., Enovos Luxembourg is a part of the Enovos-International-group.
On Monday, 17 October 2011 at the industrial estate "Tongeren Oost" (Tongeren, Belgium), Enovos Luxembourg S.A. and its project partners NPG Energy N.V. and Pholpa BVBA celebrated the first stone ceremony of the largest biogas plant in Limburg. In presence of a.o. Jean Lucius, CEO Enovos Luxembourg S.A. and the Mayor of the City of Tongeren, Patrick Dewael, a tree was planted to symbolise that this biogas plant will be 100% CO2 neutral.
In August 2011, Enovos Luxembourg S.A. signed the contracts to acquire a 24.9% stake in the biogas plant. For Enovos Luxembourg, this represents the first investment in renewable energy in Belgium.
Located in a predominantly agricultural area, the biogas plant will mainly ferment corn that is grown in close cooperation with local farmers within a 15 km radius. The resulting environmentally friendly biogas is converted into electricity via a motor and is then fed into the local power grid. The heat resulting from the process is used to dry the fermentation substrates. These substrates are returned to the fields as low-odour, high-quality fertilisers, thus producing a closed cycle.
"With a capacity of approximately 3 MW, the amount of electricity generated corresponds to the annual consumption of 6,500 households and an annual CO2 reduction of 10,000 tonnes, thus achieving an important step towards further expanding renewable energies," says Daniel Christnach, Head of Renewable Energies & Cogeneration at Enovos Luxembourg. In cooperation with the project partners, the plant's capacity can optionally be subsequently expanded to 5.6 MW. The building licence for this already exists.
Jean Lucius, CEO Enovos Luxembourg highlights: "The participation in the Biopower Tongeren N.V. emphasises Enovos' consistent commitment to the field of renewable energy and we are pleased that with this first project we were able to assert this message on the Belgium market."
The plant start-up will take place in April 2012.
The project developers NPG Energy N.V. and Pholpa BVBA are involved as additional partners in the project company, Biopower Tongeren N.V., each with 47.6% and 27.5% respectively.
As energy supplier on the Luxembourg, German, French and - since 2011 - Belgian energy market, Enovos Luxembourg's mission consists of generating electricity, natural gas and renewable energy for municipal providers, industries and private households and in delivering it to them.
They are subordinate to Enovos International S.A., which is an operative holding company with its headquarters in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In addition to supplying energy, the parent company also acts as an umbrella for the management of the grid operator, Creos Luxembourg S.A.
Expressed in numbers, the Enovos-International-group currently consists of more than 1,300 employees, more than 280,000 points of delivery, over 8,700 km of electric lines and more than 3,600 km of gas pipelines.
In addition to its traditional core business, the company is expanding its activities mostly in the field of renewable energy.
25.44% of Enovos International S.A. belongs to Luxembourg State, 10.01% belongs to the state-owned investment bank SNCI and 8.00% belongs to the City of Luxembourg. ArcelorMittal owns 23.48%, RWE owns 18.36%, E.ON has 10.00% and Electrabel holds 4.71%.
Copyright (C) 2011 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
The world's first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station had a commissioning ceremony yesterday in Fountain Valley, California.
(Video explains hydrogen fuel cells. However, it is not these same technology provider as in the article.)
The fuel cell is a combined heat, hydrogen, and electricity-generating system, making it a tri-generation system.
Here's how it works:
Biogas from the municipal wastewater treatment plant feeds the fuel cell, which then generates hydrogen. That hydrogen will be sent to a hydrogen fueling station that's open to the public and can support 25-50 fuel cell electric vehicle fill-ups each day. The fuel cell also produces 250 kW of electricity which will partially power the wastewater treatment plant.
Using hydrogen produced on-site solves infrastructure problems that are holding back the technology, and should accelerate its adoption as a renewable fuel.
The Fountain Valley fuel cell system could offer a pathway to low-cost hydrogen while demonstrating the versatility of fuel cells ability to use multiple feedstocks. Fuel cells can run on biogas or natural gas to produce electricity and fuel for light duty vehicles such as forklifts or as backup power in applications such as cell phone towers.
The project was developed as a partnership between the US Department of Energy, California Air Resources Board, the Orange County Sanitation District, and private industry. The project is managed by Air Products (NYSE: APD); additional partners include FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) and the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.
"Innovations like this demonstrate how American ingenuity and targeted investment can accelerate breakthroughs in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry while driving the clean energy economy forward," says DOE's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy Steve Chalk. "By providing the added value of electricity and heat, this approach provides a significant step in overcoming economic challenges with hydrogen refueling infrastructure."
