300 Farm Biogas Digesters Now in Use in Central Java for Energy

We are pleased to bring you the news that farmers in Central Java have started to produce biogas processed from animal dung to meet their electricity needs. The Group Association of Farmers Qaryah Thayyibah (SPPQT) in Salatiga, one of the regencies in the province, has claimed success in the program. We thought it would interest our readers, and these digesters are waste driven so there are no food crop depletion issues. If you find the excerpt from the original article that we have provided below to be interesting, please also visit the original site by following the link provided:

The association announced at a recent ceremony that it had created 300 units of biogas digesters in 20 subdistricts across the province.

The ceremony on Tuesday was witnessed by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan.

SPPQT chairman Khidziq Faisol said that the association initiated the biogas program upon its establishment in 1999 in Salatiga, inspired by the abundant waste products from cow farming.

“This program has helped empower the community to meet their own daily energy needs,” Khidziq said.

He said farmers owning more than two cows could utilize their animals’ dung to produce enough energy for both cooking and lighting.

“A farmer with at least three cows can produce a cubic meter of biogas,” said Khidziq, adding that the amount could produce energy for cooking and lighting in one household for a whole day.

SPPQT has 16,348 member farmers, comprising 660 farmer groups in Batang, Boyolali, Demak, Kendal, Magelang, Purwodadi, Salatiga, Semarang, Sragen, Temanggung and Wonosobo.

Apart from biogas, the association has also succeeded in establishing a micro-hydropower plant with a 170,000-Watt capacity, built for subdistricts located along riverbanks. The association earns some Rp 50 million (US$5,400) per month from the sale of the electricity the plant produces.

“The riverbank communities receive 30 percent of the income and the remaining 70 percent goes to the association to fund its activities,” Khidziq said.

One of the association’s supervisors, Tri Mumpuni, said the entire community was required to participate for the success of the two empowerment programs, including environmental preservation.

“In order to create a permanent income for the subdistricts, we are currently negotiating with PLN [state-owned electricity company] to buy our electricity,” Tri said.

Dahlan applauded the empowerment program, saying civil society movements should start within subdistricts where people could be empowered through a variety of activities.

With the biogas they produced, people no longer needed to purchase kerosene to fulfill their needs for cooking fuel, Dahlan said.

The program, he added, was also in line with his ministry’s target of reducing imports of cattle, by purchasing 100,000 cows to be bred at the ministry’s plantations across the country.

“There is a possibility that we will collaborate with the SPPQT to the rearing of cattle and we will buy the calves bred through the program,” Dahlan said.

View the original article here

Stuttgart Anaerobic Digestion Plant Makes Biogas from Overripe Cherries Brown Bananas and Mushy Tomatoes

We hope you find this article about a plant in Stuttgart, Germany which makes biogas out of waste from waste food from wholesale markets, interesting especially since the biogas is also used to fuel vehicles. This is truly "green", and far better than making biogas from food crops, or non-food crops if the crops displace food growing form the land. The following is quoted from the original article. Please, also visit the original site using the link at the bottom of the article:

At present, a large number of drivers have switched over to natural gas as an alternative to diesel or gasoline, as the exhaust emissions produced by natural gas contains less CO2 and free from dirt. However, the major issue is reserves are limited as natural gas is also a fossil fuel. Currently, Fraunhofer researchers have found an alternative solution to get the natural gas from food waste such as overripe cherries, brown bananas and mushy tomatoes that are produced by canteens, university cafeterias and wholesale markets. The food waste thus produced will be fermented to produce methane, which can later be compressed into high-pressure cylinders for use as fuel.

The above video shows how the same idea has is used at another site in the US, in a trailblazing project.

The facility employs several microorganisms to produce biogas from waste, which includes lowest lignocellulose content and high water. However, specific composition of waste that varies each day presents a challenge to the researchers. To address this, the waste is accumulated in many storage tanks, where a range of factors are automatically calculated, including the pH value. The plant is equipped with a specially designed management system to determine the correct balance of waste from various containers that need to be mixed and fed into the microorganisms.

Another major benefit of the Stuttgart plant is that the methane, the liquid filtrate and the sludgy residue can be used for various purposes. The methane can be utilized to power vehicles. The filtrate water, generated by the facility, contains enough phosphorus and nitrogen for use as a culture medium for the algae. In addition, the facility delivers necessary CO2 for the growth of algae. The sludgy residue that remains from the use of all these products is converted into biogas.

Daimler AG and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg are few other firms involved in the project. Other partners of the five-year project are Subitec GmbH und the town Stuttgart, Stulz Wasser- und Prozesstechnik, Netzsch Mohnopumpen, FairEnergie and the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising.

View the original article here

Swedish Help Begins a New Era in Which India Will Produce Biogas From Sewage Sludge

This is good news for the west and shows that India is becoming a participant in global warming prevention.

The Delhi Jal Board ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Swedish central authority for upgrading its sewage treatment plant at Keshopur, with a capacity of 72 million gallons a day, for the purposes of manufacturing biogas from sewage sludge. The 2 year pilot project, first of it's type in India, suggests to utilize the sludge produced in the sewage treatment process and change it to compressed biogas that'd be entirely compatible with Delhi's grid of Compressed Natural Gas ( CNG ).

The DJB will then use the gas to fuel over 120 DTC buses at the Keshopur filling station. We understand that DJB is a stakeholder / financier in the project, providing land and gas for the project.

We are going to consider commercial sales later on dependent on the successfulness of this pilot project," DJB's chief engineer for the project. For the upgrade and distribution of biogas, a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU ) will be signed on Wed. between the DJB, Indraprastha Gas Limited and Swedish company KG Renewables L.T.D , in the shadow Delhi Chief Secretary P K Tripathi and Swedish envoy Lars-Olof Lindgren. The Keshopur STP will ne able to produce up to 25,000 cubic metre of the newable fuel/ gas each day.

Here is a quote from the news item:

"The signing of the MoU is supported by the Government of Sweden and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, in line with the Indo-Swedish MoU on renewable energy. It is an innovative way to achieve energy conservation" DJB CEO Ramesh Negi said.

"The new technology will upgrade biogas to the highest-quality CNG, and will ensure minimal leakage of methane. It will also contribute to environment conservation by reducing 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year," a DJB official said.

Biogas is produced through the process of Anaerobic Digestion.

Be sure to visit the original website to View the original article here

How to Anaerobically Digest Biomass and Produce Biogas in 7 Simple Actions

Just how do you eat an elephant? The traditional response to that question is, "Just one bite at a time!" Actually, it is the same answer for how to complete any large task. When you look at the whole thing all at once, it appears to be impossible. Break it down into parts, steps or sub-tasks, and each of these is not nearly so formidable. Your specific steps can each be relatively simple, something that's no big deal, that can be done. And when you have done every one of the small-task steps, you gaze back and find out that now you have the entire formidable-task thing done. That's just exactly how it is with how to anaerobically digest biomass and produce biogas. Here is a method to tackle the formidable task of anaerobically digest biomass and produce biogas, in 7 simple steps.

Step 1. The waste is delivered to the plant and is initially sorted mechanically to remove remaining non-biodegradable contaminants. With this you will need to involve screens, air classifiers or magnets. In the event you neglect this or don't do it, you should expect a poor quality of feedstock delivery into the digester, and potential for blockages of the digester, causing downtime.

Step 2. The organic waste is then shredded and mixed with water and pumped to an enclosed vessel (reactor) known as the biogas digester. This step is important because the right mixture must be created for pumping into the digester ).

Step 3. In the digester it is heated, stirred, and held for up to three weeks whilst the bacteria digest the waste and emit a gas consisting of about two thirds methane and one third carbon dioxide. This will mean that during that period bacteria and other organisms are fermenting the organic material. This could also mean that biogas methane is produced, and this is the main product of, and reason for operating the process.

Step 4. After this the solid digested material is pressed to recover the added water. This will probably involve a mechanical press system.

Step 5. The solid digestate is placed in piles to aerate for for anything between two weeks and twelve weeks. Once the digestate has been aerated it can be used as a soil improver or growing media constituent in the same way as compost. A key point you will want to remember here is going to be that there may be regulations which limit the use of digestate due to concerns about possible transmission of infection, and other possible contaminants. The reason why this will be significant is, for example, that this limits the uses and value of digestate. If the material is derived from mixed wastes sources additional sorting may also be required to remove contaminates.

Step 6. The liquid fraction can be recirculated in the process but some excess is generated and depending of the feedstock this can be used as a fertiliser or if the waste is contaminated it has to be disposed of to sewer.

Step 7. The gas that's generated after a basic cleaning stage to get rid of hydrogen sulphide and water, can be burnt in gas engines to create electricity or in boilers to provide steam.

Or, in some locations it can make good business sense to purify the gas further by removing the CO2 so that the gas may be employed to fuel autos like automobiles, buses or vans, or the purified gas can also possibly be piped in to the natural gas network.. You are now almost there! Remember, that environmental groups and many governments are very keen to promote the use of Anaerobic Digestion due to its carbon neutral and renewable energy nature.

When you take the steps explained above, the massive elephant-problem you had will likely be "eaten up" one step at a time, "devoured" and dealt with. You will succeed in completing your project and can enjoy the fruits of victory and accomplishment! Congratulations on your victory! You took on a big challenge, conquered it and won, one step at a time!

Discover the best way to build and operate a biogas digester by going to the Biogas Digestion eBook Resources site

Steve Symes regularly writes on renewable energy issues. He feels that the environmental debate is too important to leave to the boffins. If you think so too then visit a Blog on the subject at Renewable Energy News.

Gasification of Forest Wastes Set to Produce Biogas in Gothenburg - Waste Management World

11 February 2011

Sustainable technology specialist, Metso has won a 30 million Euro order to supply a gasifier to Swedish energy supplier, G?teborg GoBiGas20MW project.

The video above may not be associated with this article.

The GoBiGas20MW project aims to use gasification of forest waste and biofuels to produce bioga. A demo gasification plant is scheduled to be built in two stages to demonstrate the technology of the green gas concept.

The first stage will supply around 20MW gas, and is due to be operational in early 2013.

Stage one is to be built in the Rya harbour, on the same site as the existing Rya hot water plant. The plan for the location of Stage 2 is on a nearby plot of land with jetty access.

G?teborg Energi say that the location was chosen so that the plant is close to a hub for Gothenburg's electricity, gas and district heating, and also allows a long-term and flexible fuel reception because it has the potential for both ship and rail transport. Cooling water to the process can be taken from adjacent G?ta River.

Metso will be involved in the first stage when the gasification plant is built on the existing premises of Rya V?rmecentral in Gothenburg, Sweden. The final plant will have a capacity of approximately 100 MW biogas, and an operating period of 8000 hours per year.

Ownership and responsibility for operating the plant will be transferred to GoBiGas AB, mainly owned by G?teborg Energi AB.

With forest residue and wood pellets as the main fuels, the gasification system, together with the subsequent methanation and up-grading system, will produce high-calorific gas, biomethane, for distribution in the existing gas grid.

"We see a huge market potential for biogas in replacing fossil alternatives and our mission is to show that gasification can play an important role in biogas supply", says ?sa Burman, CEO of the GoBiGas project.

"The quality of the gasification is essential for the success of the project and with the equipment from Metso together with the selected methanation and gas-upgrading technology we are now able to proceed to the next step, building the plant in order to meet our targets to replace natural gas by synthetic natural gas - from fossil energy to renewable energy".

Metso says that its gasification solution is based on new licensed technology for indirect gasification developed by Austrian company REPOTEC.

View the original article here