Renewable Biogas Report - Global Biogas Market to Almost Double by 2022

There is a new report which has been published this month for about £2,500 (GBP) which looks at the global market for biogas from the Anaerobic Digestion process. It is too costly for us to buy and review here, however, we would be surprised if the global biogas market doesn't grow by at least 10% annually over the next 10 years, and we would suspect that if growth was taken to include small domestic biogas units in the industrialzing nations growth would be in multiples of this prediction.

If any of our readers do buy this report we would be most appreciative if you would come back here and tell us what you found out from the report, and whether it is value for money. Meanwhile, after reading the press release a visit to the original website is always appreciated as we would not wish to reduce the potential for the orginal website to receieve your patronage just because we have provided an excerpt here:

The following press release reflects the views of the issuing entity and are not reviewed or edited by Anaerobic Digestion News.

Renewable Biogas Report Published

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0898495/Renewable-Biogas.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Renewable_energy

Biogas is a versatile energy carrier with potential to satisfy power and fuel demand across a range of end-use applications while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from a diverse array of organic waste streams. Raw biogas captured from landfills and distributed anaerobic digesters (AD) is widely utilized today across the urban and rural landscape as a fuel for electricity and heat generation. Upgraded biogas – biomethane or renewable natural gas (RNG) – is gaining traction as an alternative to fossil natural gas for gas-to-grid injection and as a vehicle fuel in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Biogas' flexibility, growing demand for waste treatment processes, and an increased focus on greenhouse gas mitigation are generating demand on a worldwide basis and in a variety of application areas, including municipal organic waste treatment, agricultural operations, industrial processing, and wastewater treatment. In particular, the use of bio-digesters to process manure and crop residues throughout Germany has demonstrated the potential for rapid deployment of biogas capture on a distributed basis. While landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) facilities are also widely deployed, the use of bio-digesters in industrial applications like food processing, breweries, and biofuels production is showing potential as a major growth area, while municipal organic waste and wastewater treatment are poised for significant growth across Asia Pacific. The global biogas industry still faces significant barriers to broad-based scale up, however, as lower natural gas prices, challenging economics, and project-to-project variability frustrate efforts to achieve economies of scale. As of 2012, biogas production accounted for only a fraction of natural gas production with bio-digester deployments concentrated primarily in Germany and landfill gas recovery confined mostly to advanced economies throughout North America and Europe.

This Pike Research report analyzes the global market opportunity for biogas capture across four key industrial segments: municipal solid waste (MSW), agriculture, industrial, and sewage treatment. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the demand drivers, business models, policy factors, and technology issues associated with the rapidly-developing market for biogas production and utilization. Key industry players are profiled in depth and worldwide revenue and capacity forecasts for raw biogas and RNG production, segmented by region and industrial segment, extend through 2022.

Key Questions Addressed :

Germany

• Which industry segments offer the greatest low-hanging opportunities for anaerobic digestion?

• Which regions will experience the greatest increase in biogas production capacity?

• What key market challenges will inhibit growth in the lucrative North American market?

• How much renewable natural gas (RNG) will be produced over the next decade?

• How will emerging waste management policies accelerate biogas deployment?

Who needs this report?

• Waste haulers and landfill operators

• Biofuel producers

• Wastewater treatment managers

• Vehicle fleet operators

• Real estate developers

• Municipalities

• Government agencies

• Industry associations

• Utilities

Table of Contents

1.1 Overview

1.2 Market Assessment

1.3 Market Forecast

2. Market Issues

2.1 Biogas Overview

2.1.1 What is Biogas?

2.1.2 Biogas Value Chain

2.1.3 Biogas Feedstocks

2.1.4 Biogas Applications

2.1.5 Market Trends

2.2 Why Biogas?

2.2.1 Biogas as a Renewable Resource

2.2.2 Substitute for Fossil Fuels

2.2.3 Greenhouse Gas Abatement

2.2.4 Environmental Benefits

2.2.5 Valuable Co-Products

2.3 Role of Biogas in Energy Markets

2.3.1 Global Biogas Utilization

2.3.1.1 AD Market Snapshot

2.3.1.2 LFGTE Market Snapshot

2.3.2 Electricity Markets

2.3.2.1 Low Cost Power

2.3.2.2 Flexible Resource

2.3.2.2.1. Utility Grid

2.3.2.2.2. On-site Generation

2.3.2.2.3. Centralized Anaerobic Digestion (CAD)

2.3.2.2.4. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG)

2.3.3 Heating and Cooling Markets

2.3.4 Transportation Fuels

2.4 Biogas Market Drivers

2.4.1 Integrated Waste Management

2.4.1.1 Biogas and Waste Hierarchies

2.4.1.2 Biowaste Ownership

2.4.2 Environmental Regulations

2.4.3 Energy Security

2.4.3.1 Biogas and Natural Gas

2.4.3.2 Biogas and Oil

2.4.3.3 Biogas and Domestic Energy

2.4.4 Incentives, Mandates, Grants, and Loans

2.4.4.1 Financial Incentives

2.4.4.1.1. Feed-in Tariffs

2.4.4.1.2. Tax Credits

2.4.4.1.3. Environmental Attributes

2.4.4.2 Mandates

2.4.4.2.1. Mandates – United States' Perspective

2.4.4.2.2. Mandates – European Perspective

2.4.4.2.3. Mandates – Chinese Perspective

2.4.5 Kyoto Protocol – Clean Development Mechanism

2.5 Biogas Market Barriers

2.5.1 Cost

2.5.1.1 AD Economics

2.5.1.2 Landfill Gas Economics

2.5.1.3 Biogas Upgrading

2.5.2 Policy Uncertainty

2.5.3 Permitting and Regulations

2.5.4 Public Acceptance

3. Technology Issues

3.1 Technology Overview

3.1.1 Typical System Components

3.1.2 Technology Considerations

3.1.3 "Smart" Process Monitoring

3.1.4 Technology and Market Maturity

3.2 Capture and Conversion

3.2.1 Anaerobic Digesters

3.2.1.1 Why AD?

3.2.1.2 AD Systems

3.2.1.3 AD Technical Considerations

3.2.1.4 Pretreatment Technologies

3.2.1.5 AD Utilization

3.2.1.6 AD Innovations

3.2.2 Landfill Gas Recovery

3.2.2.1 Estimating LFG Potential

3.2.2.2 LFG Extraction

3.2.2.2.1. Vertical Wells

3.2.2.2.2. Horizontal Wells

3.2.2.3 LFG Collection, Flaring, and Utilization

3.3 Biogas Utilization

3.3.1 Direct Use

3.3.2 Electricity Generation

3.3.3 Vehicular Use

3.4 Biogas Upgrading

3.4.1 Water Scrubbing

3.4.2 Organic Physical Scrubbing

3.4.3 Chemical Absorption

3.4.4 Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA)

3.4.5 Membrane Scrubbing

3.4.6 Cryogenic Technology

4. Key Industry Players

4.1 Acrona Systems

4.2 ADI Systems

4.3 Bekon

4.4 Biogas Nord

4.5 BiogenGreenfinch

4.6 Biothane

4.7 BTA International

4.8 DTE Biomass Energy

4.9 DVO

4.10 Clean Energy Renewable Fuels (CERF)

4.11 Eisenmann Corporation

4.12 EnviTec Biogas USA Inc.

4.13 Farmatic

4.14 Harvest Power

4.15 Kompogas

4.16 MT-Energie

4.17 Organic Waste Systems

4.18 Progressive Waste Solutions

4.19 Ros Roca Environment

4.20 Schmack Biogas

4.21 Tamar Energy

4.22 UEM

4.23 Valorga

4.24 Waste Management

4.25 WELtec BioPower GmbH

5. Market Forecasts

5.1 Methodology

5.1.1 Influence of Waste Management Policies

5.1.2 Other Market Assumptions

5.2 Biogas Market Revenue Forecasts

5.2.1 By Region

5.2.2 By Industry

5.3 Raw Biogas Production Capacity Forecasts

5.3.1 Production by Region

5.3.2 Production by Industry

5.3.2.1 North America

5.3.2.2 Europe

5.3.2.3 Asia Pacific

5.4 Installed Generation Capacity Forecast

5.5 Renewable Natural Gas Production Capacity Forecast

5.6 Country Forecasts

5.6.1 Germany

5.6.2 China

5.6.3 United States

6. Company Directory

7. Acronym and Abbreviation List

8. Table of Contents

9. Table of Charts and Figures

10. Scope of Study, Sources and Methodology, Notes

List of Charts and Figures

• Typical Composition of Biogas from Landfill Gas Recovery

• Potential Biogas Yield by Substrate

• LFG Biogas Utilization by Application, United States: 2003

• Share of Biogas Systems by Type, World Markets: 2011

• Share of Anthropogenic Methane Emissions by Source, World Markets: 2010

• Potential Reduction of Baseline Emissions by Source, United States

• Share of Commercial AD Deployments by Industry Segment, World Markets: 2011

• Share of LFGTE Deployments by Region, World Markets: 2011

• Methane-Powered Vehicles in Use by Region, World Markets: 2009

• Spot Price of Natural Gas by Market, World Markets: 2001-2010

• Average Gasoline Gallons Equivalent Price by Fuel, United States: 2011

• Biogas Tariffs by Country, World Markets: 2011

• On-Farm AD Deployments by System Design, United States: 2011

• Share of Biogas Upgrading Deployments by Technology, World Markets: 2009

• Biogas Market Value CAGR by Region, World Markets: 2012-2012

• Biogas Market Value by Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, North America: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2012-2022

• Installed Biogas Generation Capacity by Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• RNG Annual Production Capacity by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity, Europe: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, Germany: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, Asia Pacific: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, China: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, United States: 2012-2022

• Biogas Value Chain

• EU Waste Management Hierarchy

• Snapshot of Waste Lifecycle

• Anaerobic Digestion Process Stages

• Pretreatment Options

• Biogas Utilization Pathways

List of Tables

• Biogas Potential of Substrates

• LFG Biogas Utilization by Application, United States: 2003

• Share of Biogas Systems by Type, World Markets: 2011

• Share of Anthropogenic Methane Emissions by Source, World Markets: 2010

• Potential Reduction of Baseline Emissions by Source, United States

• Spot Price of Natural Gas by Market, World Markets: 2001-2010

• Share of Commercial AD Deployments by Industry Segment, World Markets: 2011

• Share of LFGTE Deployments by Region, World Markets: 2011

• Energy Projects and Candidate Landfills by State, United States: 2011

• Commercial Biogas Facilities Forecast by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Spot Price of Natural Gas by Market, World Markets: 2001-2010

• Average Gasoline Gallons Equivalent Price by Fuel, United States: 2011

• Biogas Tariffs by Country, World Markets: 2011

• On-Farm AD Deployments by System Design, United States: 2011

• Share of Biogas Upgrading Deployments by Technology, World Markets: 2009

• Biogas Market Revenue Forecast by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Biogas Market Revenue Forecast by Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Region and Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Installed Biogas Generation Capacity by Industry, World Markets: 2012-2022

• RNG Production by Region, World Markets: 2012-2022

• Raw Biogas Annual Production Capacity by Industry, China: 2012-2022

• Raw Annual Biogas Production Capacity by Industry, Germany: 2012-2022

• Raw Annual Biogas Production Capacity by Industry, United States: 2012-2022

• Summary of Renewable Portfolio Standards, United States: 2012

• Typical LFG Project Costs

• Characteristics of LFG Extraction Strategies

• LFG Collection Efficiencies

• Biogas Utilization Efficiency in Conversion Technologies

• Typical Upgraded Biogas Composition (RNG)

To order this report: Renewable energy Industry:

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Pig Farms to Become Less Stinky Down Under Due to Covered Anaerobic Pond Design

It is good to see that an innovative biogas system, developed at NIWA Hamilton, has been embraced by the Australian pork industry. It provides an alternative electricity and heating source and was developed by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). Personally,

I am surprised that these lagoon systems would make sense in the cool New Zealand climate, much better that the Aussies use this technology which should work well in their hot climate. Read-on for more about this development, and also I encourage you, as always, to visit the original article by following the link which is provided below the article:

The Australian pork industry association, Australian Pork Limited (APL), has collaborated with NIWA and several pork producers to design and build covered anaerobic pond based biogas systems. So far, four systems are currently at various stages of construction.

NIWA worked in collaboration with the New Zealand Pork Industry Board and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) on the New Zealand prototype.

NIWA identified that anaerobic digestion in covered waste ponds holds significant potential to reduce odour and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while providing biogas as a local energy resource.

Australian pig farmers are incentivised to use the technology to reduce farm GHG emissions. The recently introduced Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) allows farmers and land managers to earn carbon credits by storing carbon or reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. These credits can then be sold to businesses with an emission liability, such as fossil fuel power plants or chemical processors.

"The system makes good sense," says NIWA research engineer Stephan Heubeck, who has driven the development of the technology. "Anaerobic digestion in covered ponds holds significant potential to reduce odour and greenhouse gas emissions from the farming sector. At farm scale, this energy resource can be used for heating and/or to generate electricity."

The first pond based biogas system that NIWA designed was a purpose-built 7000m3 covered anaerobic pond for Steve Lepper's piggery in Taranaki.

NIWA's simple and low cost design has proven effective and reliable over the last two years. At the Lepper piggery, the biogas is used for electricity generation and heating in a combined heat and power unit (CHP).

As well as providing the majority of the piggery's electricity needs during daytime, waste heat from the generator is used in a reticulated hot water system for keeping young pigs warm.

Steve Lepper expects to recoup his $120,000 investment ($30,000 of which came from an EECA grant) within three years.

For additional information:

NIWA

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ThyssenKrupp Nirosta Discusses Stainless Steel Tanks for Anaerobic Digestion Plants

I for one think of stainess steel as a premium cost material and have not considered it likely to be a cost-effective material for a large commerical biogas tank, and yet in the article that follows it is clear that this material is being used for biogas plants, and reportedly, very successfully. We have included much of the article below, but please also visit the original website.

In Szeged, around an hour south of Budapest, Weltec Biopower is currently building an ultramodern biogas plant with stainless steel from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta. The 1-megawatt facility, comprising two combined heat and power plants with an output of 600 kW/h each, will go into operation at the end of 2011. The organic waste substrate will be supplied by local farmers, who in return will use the digestate left over from the anaerobic digestion /biogasproduction process as fertilizer on their fields. The generated heat will be used to heat offices in Szeged.

At the heart of the plant are two stainless steel digesters. In addition, an external stainless steel gas storage tank with a capacity of 650 cubic meters will be installed on the site. The aim is to take advantage of electricity prices, which are twice as high during the daytime. The biogas will therefore be collected in the digester tank and the external gas tank at night and the two CHP modules will run under full load in the day time.

The two 3,000 cubic meter digesters are sealed with a double membrane roof, which means that each digester also has an additional gas buffer capacity of 1,016 cubic meters. Animal waste and energy crops are used as a substrate, with special bacteria being used for the fermenting process. During biogas production, waste products such as sulfur and ammonia are also formed. "These substances are very corrosive, placing high demands on the material for the digesters. That's why we use stainless steel exclusively for our plants," says Hajo Schierhold, head of sales and marketing at Weltec Biopower, whose sole supplier of stainless steel is ThyssenKrupp Nirosta.

In the past ten years ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has supplied around 1,500 tons of material for various projects carried out by the Vechta-based plant builder. Depending on the loading, different stainless steel grades are used, e.g. for the tank walls in contact with the liquid or gas. "The majority of our deliveries have been our standard sheet steel Nirosta 4301 specially optimized for these applications," says Martin Stöckl from the ThyssenKrupp Nirosta sales team.

"What's particularly important for us is the cold-worked condition, 2H. This means thinner steel can be used to build the digesters without any loss of stability. It also means a significant cost saving". Another advantage is the extremely smooth surface. "The dense surface of Nirosta 4301 2H gives aggressive substances no opportunity to attack the material," says Weltec Biopower sales chief Schierhold. "Bacteria have no chance to take hold, so corrosion is nipped in the bud, which is an important factor for longevity and efficiency."

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QL Resources plans to sell renewable energy - Malaysia Star

SHAH ALAM: QL Resources Bhd is looking at selling biogas-generated electricity from its palm oil mill in Tawau, Sabah, under the feed-in tariff system for Malaysia's renewable energy sector, which is due to be implemented in December.

The system will allow domestically produced electricity from renewable energy resources to be sold to power utilities at a fixed premium price for a specific duration.

QL's core divisions are marine products manufacturing, integrated livestock farming and palm oil activities.

Managing director Chia Song Kun said the biogas energy facility at one of the group's two palm oil mills in Sabah would be commissioned this week. The biogas comes from the effluent resulting from the milling process.

“A 50-tonne-per-hour mill can generate two megawatts of electricity.

“Every palm oil mill can sell electricity if they do this (biogas energy). If this project is successful, we may look at selling green power to the Sabah government,” Chia said after the group's EGM yesterday.

He added that the excess bioga-genrated electricity could be used to power other utilities at each mill as well as for the the production of palm pellet biofuel, which is produced from palm oil mill by-products such as empty fruit bunches.

On the murky economic outlook, Chia said QL's performance in the near future might be affected slightly by potentially lower demand for its premium surimi (processed fish paste) products.

“We think there will be weaker demand for higher grade surimi,” he said.

About 30% of QL's marine product sales are from exports to countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

“We are still aiming for double-digit growth this year although the economic environment is not favourable,” Chia said.

For its first quarter ended June 30, the group posted a 3.7% year-on-year jump in net profit to RM27.8mil while revenue grew 18.2% to RM454.57mil.

QL attributed the growth in turnover to improved crude palm oil prices, better volume of palm oil fruits processed and higher unit value of feed raw materials.

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Major IEA Conference on Renewable Gas in Ireland - Siliconrepublic.com

With car maker Audi pioneering e-gas research to soon have methane-powered cars on the roads, an International Energy Agency (IEA) conference on renewable gas will see experts from across Europe converge in Cork, Ireland, next week to discuss the country's potential to inject renewable gas into the gas grid through the conversion of biogas into biomethane, or to use it as a source of renewable transport fuel.

Germany's Audi is investing heavily in research to pioneer technology to introduce methane-powered cars from 2013 onwards, making the e-gas from energy derived from North Sea wind farms.

So, from Ireland's perspective, next week's International Energy Agency conference, Energy from Biogas, will take place at University College Cork (UCC) on 15 September to look into the country's capacity to really push the biogas sector here, creating new green jobs in the process, while also contributing to a cleaner gas grid overall.

Biogas, also termed biomethane or renewable gas, is a versatile energy vector with applications in electricity, heat and transport, according to Dr Jerry D Murphy, a lecturer in Transportation & PI in Bioenergy at the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at UCC, who is chairing next week's event.

"In Germany, on average, each week a new facility comes online injecting renewable gas into the gas grid; the potential for Ireland with our feed stocks and our modern gas grid is very significant," he said.

At the conference, presentations will be given from top academics in the renewable gas field, including Prof Charles Banks of the Bio-Energy Research Group at the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton; Jukka Rintala, professor of bioprocess engineering, Tampere University, Finland; Prof Bernd Linke, ATB Potsdam, Germany; and Simon Zielonka, University of Hohenheim, Germany.

Murphy said the main aims of the conference would be to highlight successful facilities with different feedstocks and to highlight the advantages of upgrading biogas to biomethane for either injection to the gas grid or use as a source of renewable transport fuel.

Speakers at the event will also examine the potential of, and barriers to, use of digestate as a fertiliser, as well as giving details of ongoing biogas research happening around Europe.

Anaerobic digestion itself and the production of biogas is a technology with applications in biofuels, waste treatment, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. Germany has been taking the lead on anaerobic digestion, with Murphy pointing to how the country has more commercial facilities than any other country, with 6,000 digesters at the end of 2010.

In stark contrast, Ireland just has four anaerobic digestors up and running, with 50 planned for both North and South of the island.

Dr Jerry Murphy, principal investigator in Bioenergy at the Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork

Murphy said Ireland has an array of opportunities if it embraces anaerobic digestion. For instance, he said it would bring benefits through reduced energy importation, reduced carbon fines, helping the environment and facilitating organic waste treatment.

"It would also provide rural employment to operate the digesters and help re-employ the construction workforce in building digesters," said Murphy.

The conference will be hosted by the ERI and funded by the IEA and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Crop digestionBiomethane and grid InjectionDigestion of food waste in the UKThe Swedish experience of gas upgrading, gas injection and transport fuel useGreen gas: the Dutch experienceExperience with gas grid injectionInterpretation of the animal byproducts regulations in IrelandUtilisation of digestate as biofertiliserQuality assurance of digestate in SwitzerlandBiogas research in FinlandEffect of organic loading rate on biogas yield from animal slurry and biogas cropsBiogas research in the ERI, UCCBiogas research in Teagasc, Grange, Ireland.

Pactitioners who will speak at the event will include Anneli Petersson of the Swedish Gas Centre, Sweden; Nathalie Bachmann, EREP SA, Switzerland; and John Baldwin, CNG Services, UK.

Meanwhile, policy makers David Baxter of the Clean Energies Unit, European Commission Joint Research Centre; Mathieu Dumont, Secretariat Working Group on Green Gas, The Netherlands; and Melanie Farrar, DAFF, Ireland, will also speak at the conference.

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Renewable Energy - Pig Farm Biogas in South Africa - FM.co.za

There’s a gold mine of energy waiting to be produced from animal waste on SA’s farms. Biogas projects could play an important role in helping SA reach its renewable energy targets of 10000GWh by 2013 — if only producers were given some more support.

There is only one farm in SA producing electricity from pig waste. In 2006, Humphries Farm in Bela-Bela, together with international agricultural company Cargill, pioneered a waste-management system that uses a large-scale bio digester that processes pig waste .

By 2009, the farm was generating electricity — but always just 10 kW less than the farm needed, so that power was still drawn from Eskom. “It was a gentlemen’s agreement so that local knowledge could be developed,” says Andrew Taylor, managing director of Cape Advanced Engineering, who designed and supplied the power plant.

The project has the environmental benefits of responsible waste management and carbon emission reduction. This comes through generating electricity that would otherwise have been fossil fuel-generated by capturing methane gas that would have been released into the atmosphere.

Taylor is planning 10 more projects like this one, which could be producing a combined 1,9MW by the end of 2012.

The success of the Humphries Farm, however, and the possible success of Taylor’s other projects , is largely through the use of local technology . He says if the engines had to be imported, the project would not have been feasible .

In fact, the project was developed on the assumption of government’s renewable energy feed-in tariff (Refit) of 90c/kWh. Now that the proposed Refit tariffs have been scrapped, the ceiling price for biogas is 96c/kWh. But though the Humphries Farm project can break even at 35c-40c/kWh, Taylor says he doesn’t believe “that any biogas plants will work with 96c as the upper ceiling”.

There seems to be a gap between SA’s potential and what is being done to reach it. According to Industrial Development Corp energy specialist Raoul Goosen , SA can produce 5% of its electricity needs from biogas. This would be on-site, localised generation because of the size of the plants. “The largest one could reach about 5MW, but they would typically generate less than 1MW,” says Goosen. A typical Eskom power station generates around 1600MW.

This could go a long way in not only bringing low-emission electricity into SA’s energy mix, but also taking pressure off the national grid, which is struggling to keep up with demand.

And there is no lack of innovation waiting to fill this space.

Trade plus Aid (TPA), a nonprofit organisation, and Premier Pork Producers, the representative body for pig producers in the northern region of SA, have 13 farms lined up to become biogas producers under a commercial biogas programme.

Each farm will need around R4,5m to install the technology, which will be funded through the sale of certified emission reductions (CERs) under the UN’s clean development mechanism (CDM). The farms will be registered under a “Programme of Activities”, which means an unlimited number of farms can be added to the programme. The CERs will come from the substitution of fossil fuel- based electricity, as well as captured methane.

However, TPA’s Matthew Hayden says he has struggled to secure the necessary environmental authorisation from the department of environmental affairs.

The first application was submitted 17 months ago. The 104-day timeframe for the authorisation of a final environmental impact assessment has been exceeded.

The environmental authorisation is the first step of many in the process of generating CER s. Without CERs the projects are not financially practical.

“We’ve complied with all the timeframes,” says Rebecca Bowd, environmental assessment practitioner at Green Door Environmental Consultants, which is handling the process. “But the department says it has capacity constraints.” Comment from the department was not forthcoming.

Those involved say given that the growth of such renewable energy projects is a stated national priority, projects like this should be treated as such, with a concerted effort from government to support them. “We’re trying to rectify something from an environmental perspective that’s always been wrong on farms,” says James Jenkinson, chairman of the SA Pork Producers Association. “But we keep on running into brick walls — there is total frustration [among those involved].”

Jenkinson’s farm in Pretoria is also the site for TPA’s pilot project, where it plans to install the first Capstone microturbine (imported from the US) as a showcase to investors. The plant should be commissioned by the end of September, and the imported turbines will play an important role in transferring technology to SA, says Hayden.

But if Hayden doesn’t receive a response from the department soon, he says investors may withdraw their funds. “The project is under threat, and it’s such an obvious environmental upgrade and investment into renewable energy.”

Perhaps more importantly, if these projects fall through, so will another set of projects. Three years ago, TPA’s investors asked for funds to be channelled into clean technology. Hayden began introducing household-size biogas digesters in rural homes with sufficient kitchen and agricultural waste to run them.

The commercial biogas programme that is being held up by government was intended to raise funds for the domestic programme. Any extra CERs will be used to fund this .

The domestic project gives families a cleaner, more reliable source of energy than wood, and reduces carbon emissions. They can also use the fertiliser , which comes as a byproduct, to grow food gardens. The developmental and environmental spin-offs are clear.

But funds from investors dried up quickly: at R35000 a digester, Hayden says it’s a “hard sell”.

SA does not lack renewable energy solutions. What is lacking is the will to create an environment where these solutions can be implemented

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Biogas Power in France, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Your Renewable News (press release)

Research and Markets has announced the addition of GlobalData 's new report "Biogas Power in France, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Key Regulations and Company Profiles" to their offering.

“Biogas Power in France, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Key Regulations and Company Profiles”

Biogas Power in France, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Key Regulations and Company Profiles is the latest report offering comprehensive information on the biogas power market. The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global biogas power market with forecasts up to 2020.

The report analyzes the power market outlook in country (includes thermal conventional, hydro and renewables) and provides forecasts up to 2020. The research details renewable power market outlook in France (includes wind, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2020. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2001 to 2020 in France biogas power market. The research also showcases top active and upcoming plants in the country.

A detailed coverage on renewable energy policy framework governing the market along with policies specific to biogas power development in France are provided in the report. The research analyzes investment trends in the biogas power market in France and some of the major deals pertaining to the market are dealt in detail. The report also provides elaborate company profiles of some of the major market participants. The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by a team of industry experts.

Source: Business Wire

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Renewable Energies

The rising cost of electricity, along with the unmistakable impact of global warming on the planet, have prompted more research into so-called clean power, from renewable sources that include solar, wind, and biomass technologies.

Producers of these types of technology also are quick to point out that if Americans yearn for less vulnerability to terrorism and political instability in other parts of the globe, greater energy self-sufficiency ought to be a national goal.

Numerous states also provide tax credits or rebates for renewable energy projects, and there's a federal renewable power manufacturing tax credit (PTC) of $19 per megawatt. It is set to expire at the end of 2008, but Congress is considering extending it through 2013.

In addition, the 2006 Energy Act offers businesses a tax reduction of up to $1.80 per square foot, either for new construction or renovation that saves at least 50 % over the comparable cost of heating, cooling, lighting, and/or water use of a comparable making without these technologies in place. The savings amount depends on which, and how many, resources you're conserving.

Solar Power:

At the turn of this century, solar power-generating capacity worldwide was just over 3 million megawatts, but it's estimated that by 2020, it will surpass 5 million megawatts. Production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules truly began to take off within the 1990s and, by 2003, it was almost a $5 billion industry. In the exact same time period, nevertheless, Americans' dominance within the market as manufacturers of these techniques fell from 40 percent to 14 percent, losing ground to Japanese- and European-made systems.

The tiniest solar PV cells are used in calculators and watches, but when bigger cells are grouped together in modules of 40 or so, and multiple groups are mounted together (in configurations recognized as arrays), PV cells collect sunlight and convert it into sufficient amounts of electricity to power companies and residences. It takes 10 to 20 arrays to power a household, according to the American Solar Energy Society. It takes lots of cells to make power because only about 15 % from the sunlight that strikes the cell is utilized to generate electricity.

The industry is working tough to increase efficiency. In larger installations, the arrays collect and focus sunlight with mirrors to create a higher-intensity heat source, in a procedure known as Concentrating Solar Energy (CSP).

However, solar panels are created of silicon, and a silicon shortage in recent years has driven the price up substantially. Today, it can cost as much as 25 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce solar energy, more than double the price of any other fuel supply.

Solar energy is as adaptable as electricity generated any other way: It may be utilized for heating water, heating or cooling air, and so on. It can be incorporated into making design-an advantage more than wind turbines, for instance-and a solar program is very low maintenance. In producing the decision to "go solar," try to determine the life cycle or life expectancy of the program prior to you buy as nicely as the potential tax benefits.
Solar systems used to heat dishwashing water qualify for a federal energy-saving tax credit of 15 %, plus a 10 % business investment credit: a total tax write-off of 25 %.

Nevertheless, as your accountant will surely explain, you must first spend the cash to be able to write off the expense or receive the rebate. Learn more about solar power technology at the Web site from the American Solar Energy Society, ases.org.

Wind Energy:

Wind energy is an additional renewable power source, which any farmer with a windmill has known for years. A single, old-fashioned windmill produces from 1 to 5 kilowatts, just sufficient to pump water for livestock or house use, but new technology allows the progressive farmer to retrofit an existing pump program to produce 300 to 500 kilowatts-enough to power the property's irrigation program. They're not known as "windmills" anymore, but wind towers and windfarms.


Wind currently offers about one % of the world's total power needs, but it is an industry having a bright future, growing 20 to 25 % per year. Germany and Spain are the nations with the most wind-generating capacity; the United States, Denmark, and India round out the top five, according to the Globe Wind Power Conference.

Total installed wind energy capacity within the United States is about 12,000 megawatts, with a lot more than 2400 megawatts installed in 2006 and numerous a lot more projects within the planning stages. Texas and California seem to compete each year for top honors in the American Wind Energy Association ratings, with the states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington also kicking wind production into high gear in recent years.

Some people complain that the giant towers and turbines are noisy and unattractive, particularly in large numbers, as nicely as hazardous to birds. Wind energy advocates are making technical breakthroughs to bring down expenses and make manufacturing more reliable, but natural gas-fired plants can produce electricity at 3 cents per kilowatt-hour or much less, while windfarms produce energy at about five cents per kilowatt-hour.

Studies say this cost might be reduced enough to compete with gas-fired plants if windfarm developers could obtain the exact same favorable financing terms as utility companies, or if the utilities would be willing to own the windfarms. Increasingly, the latter is the case. Utility companies see the benefits of good public relations for "going green" and adding renewable power to their portfolios.

This also helps mitigate an additional problem within the western United States: Some small windfarm owners are fighting with utility firms over whose responsibility it is to pay for and construct the additional power lines to connect their output to the grid. It may not be feasible for you to install a wind turbine outside your restaurant, but you can request that your utility provider's portfolio include wind resources.

You are able to understand more about the expenses and feasibility of wind power at awea.org, the Web website from the American Wind Energy Association. The organization has European (ewea.org) and Canadian (canwea.org) counterparts.

Biomass Technology:

Biomass is the term for organic materials (from plants or animals) used to produce a fuel supply. It may produce electrical power or fuels to power vehicles. Biodiesel and ethanol (ethyl alcohol) are examples of biomass fuels. Biomass is also being utilized to create new-generation plastics which are recyclable, for items such as utensils and food containers. Restaurants' grease traps and trash cans are as good as gold to biomass power producers.

The Biogas Energy Project at University of California, Davis, created its very first attempt at large-scale use of restaurant waste to produce electrical power starting in 2006, and it is been a success. Waste collected from San Francisco area restaurants is pumped into an anaerobic digester, a specialized vat usually used in wastewater treatment plants, which combines the sludge with bacteria to break it down.

The procedure creates hydrogen and methane gas that can then be utilized as fuel or burned to produce electricity. Its creators say 1 ton of waste can energy 10 houses for a day, while keeping that ton of waste out from the landfill.

Geothermal Power:

About one million American homes and businesses utilize geothermal heat pumps, to both heat indoor spaces in winter and cool them in summer, requiring about 20 % less electricity than they would without having heat pumps. Federal legislation in 2005 increased the financial perks for this type of system.

Franco Zinzi has been involved with online marketing for nearly 3 years and likes to write on various subjects. Come visit his latest website which discusses of Restaurant Fridges and fridges supplies for the owner of his own business.

EnviTec Biogas reports positive business performance for 2010 - Your Renewable News (press release)

The manufacturer of biogas plants Envitec Biogas improved its sales revenues from quarter to quarter and generated EUR 47.7 million in the last three months of 2010, which is a record in the company’s history.

Total sales revenues increased by 23.4% from EUR 119.9 million to EUR 148.0 million. The company’s international activities showed a particularly positive trend, with sales from the construction of biogas plants abroad rising from EUR 21.2 million to EUR 43.7 million in the past fiscal year. This represents an increase by 106.1%. International sales accounted for 31.8% of total Group sales, up from 17.7% in the previous year. EnviTec Biogas reported a turnaround in earnings and generated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 1.0 million (previous year: EUR -0.5 million). A better result was prevented by non-recurrent effects of EUR 3.4 million in the Plant Construction segment. The Group’s net income for the year climbed from EUR 1.3 million to EUR 2.3 million, while earnings per share rose from EUR 0.08 to EUR 0.15.

EnviTec will continue to expand its Own Plant Operation activities in the future, which generate high margins. The company intends to take biogas plants with an electrical output of roughly 12 MW into service in 2011 and 2012 each, which will more than double the existing
capacity. EnviTec has obtained the first approvals for its own biogas plants in Italy. Construction of the first plants could commence before the end of 2011, as soon as the necessary project loans have been raised.

Source: Renewable Energy Industry

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Conergy sells biogas projects - Renewable Energy Focus

VERBIO biogas plant feeds into German grid

VERBIO Vereinigte Bioenergie AG’s biogas plant in Zörbig, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, is now feeding into MITGAS Netz’ high pressure gas grid. Looking at biogas in Central Europe.

Note: Video and article are not associated.

Biogas could be an important part of EU’s 2020 targets for renewable energy, and the EU project Sustainable and Innovative European Biogas Environment (SEBE) is now looking at technology and regulatory frameworks for biogas. Europe adopts report on biomass sustainability

The European Commission has adopted a report on sustainability requirements for the use of solid biomass and biogas in electricity, heating and cooling, concluding that more detailed legislation is not necessary at this stage. Growth in biogas predicted in Germany

About 760 biogas plants were connected to the German national electricity grid in 2009 - three times the number in 2007 - according to estimates by the German Biogas Association. This is around 100 times more than exist in the UK. Introduction to feed-in tariffs

The feed-in tariff is often held up as a ‘must’ for renewable energy to succeed. David Jacobs explores feed-in tariffs in all shapes and forms, and illustrates what should be taken into consideration when designing them.

11 February 2011

Conergy AG, based in Hamburg, Germany, announces that it has sold its biogas subsidy EUPRON to RES Projects, specialists in biomethane installation.

With this sale RES Projects will acquire a number of biogas ventures at different developmental levels amounting to more than 23 MW of energy being generated from biogas activities.

These new biogas projects are to be installed in the next few years and will be mainly located in Germany.

This article was featured in:
Bioenergy

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GCC looks into using renewable energy - Stroud News and Journal

RENEWABLE energy could be used in future to power Gloucestershire County Council’s buildings, to save money and cut carbon.

The innovative idea, being looked at by the Environment Scrutiny Task Group, could see the council saving £5m annually, generating income and becoming almost carbon neutral within 10 years.

In our video below we provide an example of a renewable energy biomass boiler in the London Borough of Havering. AD is another method which could be used.




Currently the council produces around 60,000 tonnes of carbon every year and spend more than £8million on energy bills.

The pioneering approach to renewables would make Gloucestershire one of the first councils in the UK to look at generating and selling our own electricity on this scale.

This will involve using green technology like solar panels, wind turbines and anaerobic digestion to become a lean, green council which provides all its own energy, reducing the financial burden on the council taxpayer.

At the moment there are no firm plans in place, but feasibility studies will be carried out over the next six months to determine what could be done.

One of the ideas is to set up a separate company to sell our surplus energy generated back to the grid, which will generate further income for the council.

The scrutiny group charged with looking into the issue was asked to investigate everything that we could achieve.

If GCC takes on all the ideas scrutiny have looked at, an estimated capital investment of £180 million would be needed to put all these ideas into place – but that would bring an annual return of £420 million.

To achieve the £5million savings and become carbon neutral would mean investments of around £25million, however no money has been committed to this project yet.

The council would also be eligible for funding from government if it decided to go down the renewable route and if the renewable plans are feasible they could generate additional incomes of around £14 million a year.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of the council, said: "This is not a quick fix, it’s about finding a sustainable way of working which dramatically cuts costs, reduces our impact on the environment and increases the security of energy supply.

"There is a cost involved here and before we commit to spending any money, we will ensure whatever we end up doing is worthwhile and will provide the benefits we expect.

"We have to invest now to save for the future and if we can save around £5 million every year and then make money on selling energy on top of that, this money can be ploughed into frontline services and that for me is the most important thing."

Cllr John Cordwell, who is the chair of the scrutiny committee looking into the project, said: "This group is looking into ways of saving money and investing into renewable energy by using council buildings and land.

"We are pleased to see the administration is of the same mind and we shall look forward to scrutinising the plans as they develop."

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Digestion Technology Developments For Cheaper Renewable Fuel

A very popular idea currently gaining publicity is a very old concept: methane digestion. The methane given off during the decomposition of the manure is captured and burned, providing either heat or power, for electrical generation. These promise a minor revolution in small and medium scale energy generation from methane, with a scale smaller than wind turbines, but still significant in terms of national adjustments to high oil prices.

However, the digestion process has been criticized for being inefficient and unstable in operation. But, the technology of anaerobic digestion has been largely ignored until the last run on oil prices about 5 years ago (about 2003), when for the first time for as long as anyone can remember the oil price exceeded the production cost for fuel produced as methane by digestion.

Five years has been scarcely long enough for more than some half a dozen to one dozen AD plants to be designed, constructed and commissioned, in the UK for example. These should be considered to be a first generation of a new breed of reactors using this technology. This is a bit like the people who criticized the motor car for being slow while the law (in the UK certainly) required all automobiles to be preceded by a man holding a flag to warn pedestrians.

Many did criticize the automobile at that time, but do you want to do so for digestion, as I think that you will be looking as silly as those flag wavers were just ten years later, when the motor car became an established mode of transport.

There are many ways in which the efficiency of Anaerobic Digestion bio-reactors are being improved, and the first is by using sophisticated ultrasonic technology to break up the particles and so allow breakdown of a bigger proportion of the organic content.

In some of the other processes being developed the excess liquor from the process is used to re-wet incoming biowaste as it contains useful bacterial populations. This method can produce a faster reaction then the original start-up.

It is important because on-farm Digester (Anaerobic Digestion) projects can provide needed services to farmers; develop local, renewable electrical generation; enhance environmental quality; and generate income for the community.

Other researchers have identified the fact that if you have fluctuating temperatures, then you will not be able to establish an optimum microbial population. The digester stirring system must be efficient and operational at all times to ensure that the cold, newly introduced sludge, is mixed with the warm older solids and the bacteria. This sounds easy but in a large tank with a fairly viscous sludge mass it can be surprisingly onerous on the mixing technology.

Anaerobic digestion consists of a series of reactions which are catalyzed by a mixed group of bacteria and through which organic matter is converted in a step-wise fashion to methane and carbon dioxide. Polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, and starch are hydrolyzed to oligomers or monomers, which are then metabolized by fermentative bacteria with the production of hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and volatile organic acids such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate. Clearly, this is a complex reaction which e can be greatly improved by better knowledge gained by further academic study which can now take place given the raised awareness and importance of this technique. This will most likely yet result in big advances in how man designs and runs its new digesters.

In the developing world another angle for them is selling carbon credits from the renewable energy created by anaerobic digestion on the worldwide market. Those credits should be a source of income for as well as providing a way to readily obtain seed capital for these projects from the banks.

However, the process also produces a solid and a liquid digestate in the slurry. The use of the process would not be sustainable without an environmentally safe method of disposal, and better still preferably a 'beneficial use' of the output from digestion.

The market for the digestion processing outputs is still undeveloped just about everywhere. However, there are some positive signs reported that the outputs will be genuinely useful, and indeed a source for additional revenue for the operators of these plants.

The adoption of manure digesters at animal operations is much more advanced in Europe than in the U.S. But, there are many successful AD plants in operation throughout the U.S.

Northern Concrete has one such installation and has reported on its digestion process. They have said that the feedstock (animal byproduct) goes into a holding area until it is ready to enter the digester. It sits in the digester for 22 days and is released as useful by-products like methane and a grassy sawdust-like product that can be used as fertilizer, animal bedding or after further processing for floor boards.

There is certainly other evidence of progress in selling AD outputs. Another operator (Pro-Gro Mixes of Tualatin, Ore.) is thought to have contracted to market the solids material or digested fiber to the wholesale nursery and landscape industries, reportedly. It is understood to be selling between 1,000 to 3,000 yards of digested fiber, under the FiberLife brand, per month in the Willamette Valley.

There is also potential for the methane to be burnt in efficient turbines, rather than today's ubiquitous reciprocating engines. Here the heat from turbine exhaust is used to maintain the optimum digester temperature and sustain bio-gas production. The resultant bio-gas is collected from one such system and cleaned, then used to fire the turbines. The results have reportedly been way above expectations, with a significant increase in production, higher yield and fewer rejects being recorded. The digester in question is thought to qualify as a small-power production facility, which means it follows a funding schedule, enabling projects to gain rapid approval.

Digestion can be considered for a wide variety of agricultural and industrial and commercial sites. From agricultural community scale Digesters to supermarkets with waste food, to municipal authorities with organic waste in their collected waste streams. All should now be considering the installation of digestion of one type of another. For more information visit the Digestion web site.

Prominent UK business group calls for more energy from waste

Launching a new report, Going to waste: Making the case for energy from waste, the leading business group highlighted the important role that energy from waste could play in a broad-based energy mix, which improves energy security.

Technologies include using anaerobic digestion, where biological processes produce bio-gas from waste, and incineration. These provide consistent and reliable power supplies, unaffected by the weather, and are not imported.

With strong leadership from the Government on planning, financing and procurement, the UK could quadruple the proportion of energy it generates from waste from 1.5% to 6% by 2015.

And the CBI warned that unless urgent steps are taken to cut landfill use, the UK will face fines from the European Union of around £182.5m a year.

Neil Bentley, CBI Director of Business Environment, said:

“We cannot continue dumping rubbish in landfill sites. Waste that can’t be recycled could be used to heat homes and produce electricity, as well as improving our energy security.

“Across Europe, generating energy from waste is common and compatible with high levels of recycling.

“The Government needs to encourage the development of more anaerobic digestion and incineration plants, and tackle delays in the planning system.”

The report focuses on the family of energy from waste technologies, which can be broadly divided into biological and thermal types. Anaerobic digestion can be used on-site to produce heat and electricity, or injected into the National Grid after being purified.

Thermal treatments include technologies, such as gasification and pyrolysis, which involve heating waste to produce gas, as well as incineration. The CBI argues that non-recyclable waste should be incinerated, and emphasises that it is cleaner, more efficient, and environmentally sounder than burning fossil fuels or relying on landfill.

Among the CBI’s recommendations for the Government are:

Recognising the important role that energy from waste could play in reducing the UK’s landfill, securing energy supplies and increasing the proportion of renewable sources;Avoiding picking winners from the various energy from waste technologies and allowing the market to decide the most cost effective option;Reassuring the public that delivering more energy from waste is compatible with high levels of recycling and that new plants are clean and safe.

Echoing her support for the report, Gaynor Hartnell, Chief Executive of the UK Renewable Energy Association (REA) said,

“The Government has already said it wants to encourage Energy from Waste, and it would do well to heed the CBI’s recommendations. Most of the energy content of our household waste is renewable, yet often projects are dogged by overly complex and unnecessary regulation, which prevents them from getting the rewards they are entitled to for generating green energy. A healthy dose of pragmatism would be in everyone’s interests and would enable one of the cheapest forms of green energy to play its part in meeting the UK’s renewables target.”

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