Anaerobic Digestion Promotes Positive Image for Oil Palm Industry

The palm oil industry has been seen as less than perfect in a number of areas recently, one aspect of concern has been the worry that palm oil plantations are big fossil fuel energy consumers. In more than one nation as we can see from the video below, a biogas project gives a positive image for oil palm industry. Once again Anaerobic Digestion is being brought forward as a force for good, and the AD process is adopted yet again. Please visit the original article website after reading our excerpt:

TAWAU:

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is confident that the biogas project being explored by the plantation sector in the state, can create a positive image for the oil palm industry.

He said it would be seen as an environment friendly industry which gave serious consideration to the protection of the environment.

He said the technology for biogas production from oil palm waste was not just environment friendly but also helped in the electricity generation for the plants and in the process, reduce the dependency on fossil fuel which is a source of air pollution.

“Previously, the disposal of waste from oil palm and the oil palm mills, posed a lot of problems for us. Now, it has become a source of electricity,” he added.

Musa said this in his speech while officiating the opening of the Biogas Plant at the Sawit Apas Balung mill owned by Kumpulan Sawit Kinabalu here yesterday.

The biogas plant project is the first for Kumpulan Sawit Kinabalu, a state government agency, and in line with its aim to create sustainable wealth while taking into consideration the protection of the environment in economic operations.

Musa, who is also the Finance Minister, said the state government was committed to development without sidelining environmental protection.

“We hope this commitment will receive strong support from oil palm plantation companies in Sabah,” he added.

He also hoped that more companies would explore the production of environmental friendly energy and at the same time, contribute to the renewable energy sector in the state.

“We need to be more creative and innovative to continue the quest for new ways to drive the search for energy from sources which were previously considered useless,” he added. — Bernama

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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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