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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.
One for the road -- Toto's Toilet Bike Neo is turning heads as it crosses Japan on the power of animal dung.
Of all the PR-friendly ways there are to spread a message, corporate or otherwise, sending some poor sap out to ride across an entire country on a motorized toilet surely ranks high on the list of “Uh, what?” schemes we've seen.
Allow us to introduce the poop-powered Toilet Bike Neo. It's a three-wheeled chopper-style motorcycle from Toto, one of Japan’s largest toilet suppliers.
Contrary to what you might think (and who can blame any mind for wandering in that direction), the retro steed runs not on human “output” from the unfortunate rider, but on biogas brewed from animal dung and household wastewater.
Um, and it also comes fitted with a tiny talking latrine on the handlebars, a nightclub-style “air-writer” LED device for leaving bon mots trailing in its wake and a high-end sound system.
The Toilet Bike Neo Project is part of the Toto Green Challenge initiative to promote the firm’s goal aim of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in its customers’ bathrooms (again, say what?) in half by 2017.
Throughout October, the portable pooper will travel 1,000 kilometers across Japan from a Toto factory in Kyushu to its final resting point in Tokyo.
It’s stopping along the way to spread the word about the energy conservation methods that Toto promotes, such as the company's high-efficiency toilets.
Any kids undergoing toilet training should stay away from the front of the Toilet Bike Neo, as the talking commode on the handlebars is more than a little scary, yapping out fortunes, stock quotes and other snippets no one wants to hear right now.
Still, the message is a sound one and the mobile latrine’s photo blog is one of the more unusual Japan travel diaries we’ve seen -- perhaps it’ll one day inspire a new generation of eco-warriors to rise up and festoon the nation in two-ply.
Jane Leung is a Hong Kong-born Canadian who has dabbled in the mixed media bag of film and television production, the professional sports industry and magazine publishing.
The First Aannual Waste Technology Summit took place at the Regents Park Marriott hotel in London on the 4th – 5th October 2011. It included a site visit to the Lakeside Energy from Waste plant, and a range of speakers covering key novel and proven technology types for waste management applications. These applications ranged from waste treatment for energy recovery, materials recovery, fuel preparation and techniques to derive chemical feedstocks.
The summit included speakers covering the following technology types:-
* Energy from waste (Sita)
* Gas Plasma (Advanced Plasma Power)
* Anaerobic Digestion (Hot Rot Solutions)
* Mechanical Heat Treatment (EVRS)
* Pyrolysis (Enval)
* Gasification (Waste2tricity)
* Incinerator Bottom Ash treatment and recovery (Rock Solid BV)
* Processes for Deriving Chemicals from Waste (Solvert), and
* Processes for Recycling Plastics Waste Into Food Grade Bottles (Nextek Ltd)
The diversity of technical solutions to waste management challenges appear broad, and one aspect that was made clear from the presentations is substantial innovation and ambition in evidence to both help meet our waste management challenges and provide resources back into the UK economy.
It is also clear however that there remain major challenges to delivery of waste technology ranging from the planning risks of Energy from Waste plant through to bankability risks and blockages for various new technology solutions. In some regards it was ever thus, but at present there are more recent (and ongoing) nuances, notably relating to the uncertainty of the Localism agenda and the risk aversion of banks.
It is a far more complex picture than this however, and some of the key messages from day 1 of the conference are included here.
Sita
Stuart Hayward Highman explained the openness with which they were exploring and partnering for the development of new technologies, in addition to their existing Energy from Waste (EfW) infrastructure. This was tempered by a caution over risk and finance, however Sita are actively involved in expanding the use of landfill gas in vehicles (including deals with Tesco and Sainsbury’s for their vehicle fleets) for which a limiting factor is the effectiveness of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) subsidy, which delivers less income than the equivalent Government support mechanism for electricity generation, the Renewables Obligation.
Furthermore, it involves greater effort to deliver a fuel that meets the RTFO than convert energy to electricity and meet the RO through waste treatment technologies. In this context, and it was a message reiterated during his talk, the UK Government incentives for renewable energy do not adequately promote the ‘most sustainable’ option, but rather seem to bias towards electricity generation (which often yields a lower efficiency environmental return). This was a concern for Sita, which sees new technologies as offering a better environmental solution when waste is used as a feedstock for liquid and gaseous fuels rather than burned for electricity generation.
In this context, Mr Hayward Highman explained their new developments with end of life plastics at Avonmouth, which converts the waste stream through an advanced thermal treatment process into diesel, and recent developments in Anaerobic Digestion at Sita.
He also outlined future planned developments including the hope of testing a static hydrogen fuel cell technology. Where technology risk is a factor in financing Sita has used its balance sheet to facilitate investment in new technologies where appropriate, and sees a range of technical solutions available in the market for managing waste.
Advanced Plasma Power (APP)
Rolf Stein delivered a presentation on the activities of APP, utilising their plasma gasification process. This technology initially prepares the waste through mechanical separation of non-combustibles from the input waste stream and gasifies the resultant (prepared) fuel feedstock using a conventional gasification process. The output syngas and ash is then passed to a second chamber containing the plasma process. The high temperature / UV light cracks the syngas to generate a cleaner gas suitable (after acid gas scrubbing) for combustion in a gas engine (without he informa us, the inherent fouling problems associated with conventional gasification). Furthermore, the ash is vitrified into a glassy residue with the trade name ‘Plasmarok’, which may have value as an inert ‘product’. Mr Stein also cited the potential innovation of spinning the vitrified residue into ‘Rockwool’ type insulation applications.
APP are also processing the excavations from a Belgian landfill (containing auto-shredder residues and Commercial / Industrial wastes) through the Plasma Gasification process. A typical scale proposed for an APP Plasma Power plant for mixed wastes would be ~150ktpa input for mechanical sorting and preparation, in order to deliver ~90ktpa of fuel for the thermal process. This scale of plant would cover a footprint of ~10,000m2.
EVRS (Mechanical Heat Treatment)
Martin Osment explained the EVRS process for utilising mechanical heat treatment technology to derive usable materials from a mixed waste stream. This process mechanically sorts out the glass / aggregate, metals and plastics fractions from the waste stream leaving a predominantly cellulose based feedstock for the autoclave vessel.
The technology has been demonstrated at lab scale and at a small demonstration plant and it was stated that the process had no emissions to land, air or water. It is a scalable technology with commercial sized facilities beginning at ~6ktpa upwards, with standard vessels of 50ktpa, allowing multiples to be placed on one site in order to deliver larger scale facilities.
Nextek (Waste Polymer Sorting)
Ed Kosior delivered a fascinating talk around the issues with sorting / reprocessing the more ‘difficult’ plastic polymers. He focussed particularly on the black plastics (e.g. some food trays), seeking to attain food grade polypropylene and the recycling of plastic films.
As regards black plastics it was evident that optical sorters used in materials recycling facilities (MRFs) or plastics sorting facilities, could not differentiate the plastic polymers of these materials because the carbon black within the plastic absorbed the near infra red (NIR) light that is used to bounce off of plastics to determine their composition. In tests, Nextek changed the dye within the black plastic to an organic black dye, which did not absorb the light rays. After a re-program of the optical sorting software, the equipment was able to both see and sort the black plastic, enabling effective separation for recycling.
Delivering food grade polypropylene (PP) was considered a major challenge for the industry. One reason for this is the tendency for PP bottles to be used for bleach, detergents, shampoos and other non foodstuff with potentially toxic contents. However, using a dedicated hand-picking / sorting line, it was possible to deliver a food grade PP recyclate stream with around 50% of the mixed PP considered appropriate for this application. This approach has yet to reach commercialisation.
Mr Kosior also explained that laboratory tests have shown that it is possible to deliver 100% recycled plastic film, although in the current market much lower levels of recycled content are usually used because of issues with organics contaminating the recyclate stream. This is another area that is progressing in terms of commercialisation.
In questions and answers, Mr Kosior discussed how many times PET and HDPE bottles could be recycled ‘though the loop’ before degrading. For PET bottles the main issue, he stated, is discolouration after one recycling stage. It is possible to add brighteners to the plastic, in which case they could potentially be recycled ~5 times.
For HDPE bottles, the limiting factor was the amount of antioxidant within the plastic, again around 5 times recycling was possible if more antioxidant was available. He speculated that if more antioxidant were added to the material at the start of its life then the ‘recycling life’ could be extended.
Conclusion
The 1st EyeforEnergy Waste Technology Summit was notable for the high quality of the speakers from Waste Technology Companies, and it was your reviewer's view that this conference was unique in attracting industry speakers not seen at other recent events, each of which came with with new and promising marketable technologies which commissioning clients in the public and commercial sectors will be very interested in.
Find out more about Frith Resource Management at www.frithrm.com.
Readers of this blog who are interested in how the expansion in the UK waste management industry which has included the push toward the use of Anaerobic Digestion as biogas/ renewable energy source, can read about these recent developments and the drivers behind them in the article which can be seen by ckicking the link below:
11 September 2011 Last updated at 09:32 The plant will turn food waste into biogas to produce electricity and also fertiliser for farms Plans have been drawn up for a plant in the Swansea Valley capable of turning food waste from over 350,000 homes into electricity and fertiliser.
(Video and article are not related.)
A formal planning application is expected in October for the anaerobic digestion facility at Pwllfawatkin, north of Pontardawe.
It would run on food waste collected in Bridgend, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea.
The company behind it, Waste Recycling Group Ltd, plans a public exhibition.
It has been talks with Neath Port Talbot Council, which will assess the planning bid at the former Abernant Colliery, for several months.
Mike Bullard, project director from Waste Recycling Group, said the plant would use micro-organisms to break down biodegradable food waste in order to produce fertiliser and biogas which will be used to generate electricity.
Continue reading the main story
The proposed facility has the potential to contribute significantly towards meeting the challenges and targets set out by the Welsh Government in relation to climate change, energy security, waste reduction and resource management”
End Quote Mike Bullard Waste Recycling Group The 2.3 MW facility would have the potential to generate enough electricity to meet the demands of approximately 5,000 homes.
It would have the capacity to process around 52,000 tonnes of food waste each year.
Most of that would come from weekly food waste collections by the five county councils.
Mr Bullard said: "The proposed facility has the potential to contribute significantly towards meeting the challenges and targets set out by the Welsh Government in relation to climate change, energy security, waste reduction and resource management.
"It would generate electricity and heat from the processing of food waste from households, as well as food waste from businesses, and has the potential to meet the energy needs of approximately 5,000 homes.
"A nutrient rich liquid fertiliser will also be produced, which will then be available for use by farmers to help cultivate agricultural land."
He said the company would hold a public exhibition at a date yet to be fixed so people living nearby could find out more before the planning application was submitted next month.
Mike Roberts, head of street care services at Neath Port Talbot, said the council was working with its four counterparts to secure a regional anaerobic digestion facility to treat household food waste from south west Wales.
"The procurement process is ongoing and a number of bids and associated site locations are currently under consideration. The final short list is yet to be agreed," he said.
A much smaller plant capable of dealing with 15,000 tonnes of food waste has been given the go ahead near Clynnog in Gwynedd.
Flintshire, Conwy and Denbighshire councils aim to open one at a former abattoir in St Asaph by 2013.
Police are investigating the sudden death of a man whose body was discovered in a river on the Carmarthenshire-Pembrokeshire border.
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ZAGREB (Croatia), September 15 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it is providing a 5.0 million euro ($6.9 million) loan to Croatian concern Agrokor to support the construction of a combined heat and power generation plant that will use biogas as primary fuel.
The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to purchase and install the biogas power plant, and sterilisation and water purification equipment, the EBRD said in a press release.
The project is expected to be completed by September 2012 and will be in full compliance with EU environmental regulations.
Located in Gradec, 40 kilometres outside the capital Zagreb, the plant will be fuelled by organic waste, by-products of Agrokor's food production process. It will have a generation capacity of 1.0 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which will be supplied to Croatia's power grid, and also a 1.0 MW of heat capacity.
The construction of the biogas facility in Gradec is the first step in Agrokor's strategic plans to develop similar projects, with a total generation capacity of up to 30 MW, the statement said.
The EBRD has a long-standing cooperation with the privately-held Agrokor, having previously supported a variety of the company's investments in Croatia and neighbouring countries. The biogas facility in Gradec is financed under the bank's Agribusiness Sustainable Investment Facility.
Since the beginning of its operations in Croatia, the bank has committed over 2.5 billion euro to the country's economy. The EBRD funds mobilised additional investment of 4.0 billion euro in various sectors of the Croatian economy.
Residents and businesses looking to install wind power, fuel cells or other alternative electricity generators - but not solar power - will get lower subsidies after a decision made this week by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The new rules apply to the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which provides subsidies to businesses and residents who install power generators on their own property. The new rules require new generation projects to reduce to the net production of global warming-causing gases such as carbon dioxide in order to be eligible for the subsidy. They also reduce the subsidies by as much as half, depending on the technology in question.
"Today's decision represents a team effort between the California Air Resources Board and the CPUC as we strive to reach goals of achieving 33 percent renewable energy by 2020 and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020," said commission president Michael Peevey in a written statement issued Thursday.
A 2006 state law established a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
Under the rules for the program, applicants must show that proposed generation reduces the amount of net greenhouse gases produced compared with the amount of greenhouse gases produced from normal electricity generation. The exact amount of reduction was left open for a future decision after the commissioners disagreed with staff's method of calculation.
The commission also ruled that some technologies had become popular enough that subsidies could be reduced. Wind turbines will now be eligible for $1.25 per watt, down from $1.50 per watt; fuel cells, which produce electricity from natural gas without burning it, will be eligible for $1.25 per watt, half the previous subsidy; and biogas generators, which are fueled by methane from sewage and landfills, will see no reduction in a $2 per watt subsidy, but companies must buy it on a 10-year contract, twice as long as before.
The new rules require businesses applying to undergo an energy audit, which will highlight areas where the applicants could make better use of their electricity, before they receive a subsidy.
Call staff writer Eric Wolff at 760-303-1927 or follow him on Twitter at NCTRealEstate.
BEIJING—General Electric Co. Wednesday opened a $100 million contest in China to fund innovative gas-energy projects, similar to the company's previous innovation programs in the U.S.
GE is launching its "Ecomagination Challenge" in China along with seven venture-capital partners, together providing $100 million to back innovations in gas power, including natural gas, biogas, shale gas and coal-bed methane gas.
Speaking at a news briefing, Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said GE expects revenue from its energy business in China to grow ...
BEIJING—General Electric Co. Wednesday opened a $100 million contest in China to fund innovative gas-energy projects, similar to the company's previous innovation programs in the U.S.
GE is launching its "Ecomagination Challenge" in China along with seven venture-capital partners, together providing $100 million to back innovations in gas power, including natural gas, biogas, shale gas and coal-bed methane gas.
Speaking at a news briefing, Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said GE expects revenue from its energy business in China to grow ...
Virent Energy Systems' biogasoline has passed a major road test.
A trial conducted by Royal Dutch Shell, one of Virent's collaborators, tested five identical pairs of late-model European cars. Each car was driven more than 6,000 miles during 2010. One set ran on regular Shell gasoline; the other set was fueled with Shell gas blended with Virent's biogas.
(Video and bog are not related.)
When the engines were dismantled and inspected after the trial, all 10 cars were in the same condition. That means Virent's biogas, made from plant sugars instead of crude oil, caused no harm.
"The Shell road trial results are encouraging and an important step forward in the commercialization of (Virent's) process," said Virent chief executive Lee Edwards, in a news release Tuesday.
The facility will receive all of the solid food waste and waste water generated by the factory, which makes much of the Rowntree range, including fruit gums and pastilles, as well as a number of other confectionery lines such as Caramac, Rolo, Munchies, After Eight Bitesize, Matchmakers, Drifter, Blue Riband and Breakaway.
The plant will treat 80,000 cubic metres of factory waste water annually to generate biogas that can be used to heat/power the factory and facilitate the recycling of ‘grey’ water back into factory processes. It will also recover energy from the 1,200 tonnes of waste food that arises from the confectionery production operation, of which 500 tonnes is currently sent to landfill and 700 tonnes ends up as animal feed.
The process will leave a residue of about 200 tonnes a year, which is rich in nutrients and can be used as an agricultural fertiliser.
The planners at Newcastle City Council who approved the scheme, said: “The proposals will result in less waste being required to be transferred to landfill sites and will equally decrease the amount of energy that is used by the factory from non-renewable sources... the proposals will benefit the business by using energy and water more efficiently, culminating in lower costs, reduced emissions and improved environmental performance and compliance.”
Anaerobic digestion is a process in which micro-organisms break down degradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is widely used to treat industrial waste water and is now seen as a renewable energy source. An efficient anaerobic process produces biogas (methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide). This biogas can be used to generate heat and/or electricity. The process also negates the need for waste to be transferred to landfill.
DUBLIN -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4a2cea/biogas_power_in_it) has announced the addition of GlobalData's new report "Biogas Power in Italy, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles" to their offering.
"Biogas Power in Italy, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles" is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer 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 Italy (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 Italy 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 Italy are provided in the report.
The research analyzes investment trends in the biogas power market in Italy 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.
Scope
The scope of the report includes:
Brief introduction and overview on global carbon emissions and global energy consumption. Historical data provided from 2001 to 2010 and forecasts until 2020. Overview on the overall renewable power market in the world, highlighting the fuel types - wind, solar PV, solar thermal, anaerobic-digestion and biomass. Detailed overview on the global global biogas power power market with capacity and generation forecasts to 2020. Power market scenario in Italy with capacity and generation forecasts to 2020, highlighting fuel types such as thermal conventional, hydro and renewables.
Companies Mentioned:
EnviTec Biogas AG Elettrostudio SpA MT-ENERGIE Italia Srl agriKomp GmbH
GE Gas Engine Technology Powers Hungary's Largest Biogas Plant
Fuel-Flexible Gas Engines as European Nations Seek to Comply with Environmental and Energy Efficiency Mandates
(GE please put up a video!!!)
JENBACH, AUSTRIA. September 14, 2011. Energy industry officials yesterday gathered near a large poultry processing plant in the city of Szarvas for the formal opening of Hungary's largest biogas power plant. Powered by three of GE's (NYSE: GE) ecomagination-qualified, JenbacherJ416 biogas engines, the combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plant generates 4.2 megawatts of renewable electricity and an equal amount of thermal energy to support the plant?s onsite operations as well as the local grid. Szarvas is located 170 kilometers (105 miles) southeast of Budapest.
The new CCHP plant was built by the German company r.e Bioenergie GmbH, a subsidiary of BayWa r.e GmbH. The energy developer is running the plant in close cooperation with the poultry processing plant operator Gallicoop Pulykafeldolgoz Zrt. Gallicoop provides a large amount of the raw biomass that is converted into the biogas that powers the Jenbacher engines. The biogas is created through the anaerobic digestion of an annual total of 22,500 tons of turkey and cow manure, 31,000 tons of pig slurry, 47,480 tons of mixed waste (slaughterhouse waste, whey and wastewater sludge) and 18,000 tons of sweet sorghum.
The anaerobic digestion facility is located approximately four kilometers (km) east of the poultry processing plant. To optimize the efficiency of the thermal energy, a special pipeline delivers the biogas from the digester facility to the Jenbacher engines at the processing plant. The CCHP system's thermal power is then used to supply on-site heating and cooling. Any excess electricity is fed into the local grid. Our new biogas power plant illustrates the increasingly important role that biogas will play as Hungary seeks to expand its production of alternative energy in order to comply with the European Union's 20/20/20 initiative to generate 20 percent of the continent's energy from renewable sources by 2020, said r.e Bioenergie GmbH Managing Director Ludwig Dinkloh, who oversees international business for the company. However, only projects that maximize efficiency with a sophisticated heat concept, such as our Szarvas biogas project, provide a sustainable business model.
Agricultural waste is a key industrial source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. However, by digesting the biomass and using the resulting biogas in the Jenbacher units, less of the gas is free to escape into the atmosphere. Also, the valuable, nutrient-rich digester residue is used as a high-quality fertilizer, replacing the use of artificial fertilizers on several thousand hectares of farmland. GE has seen an increased demand for its fuel-flexible gas engines to help customers throughout Europe generate their own onsite power and heat to meet their increasingly stringent environmental and energy efficiency goals.
Our Jenbacher gas engines use the biogas generated from organic waste as a valuable source of energy, allowing us to offer our customers a powerful, cost-effective way of producing energy, said Rafael Santana, president and CEO?Gas Engines for GE Energy. These engines also allow us to make a considerable contribution to the country's larger initiative by reducing the equivalent of more than 10,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year at the largest biogas project in Hungary. GE operates a regional Jenbacher gas engines sales and services center that is co-located with GE's heavy gas turbine manufacturing plant in the city of Veresegyh'z, 30 kilometers northeast of Budapest. The center is ideally positioned to help municipal and private customers in Hungary and other central European countries comply with European Union directives to boost regional energy efficiency levels by modernizing local district heating systems and expanding alternative energy production.
Since 1989, GE has been one of the most significant multinationals operating in Hungary. Today, all five GE core businesses are active in the country. GE is the largest U.S. investor and employer in Hungary with more than 13,000 people and also is one of the country?s biggest exporters. About GE's ecomagination GE is driving a global energy transformation with a focus on innovation and R&D investment to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technology. Since its inception in 2005, 115 ecomagination-qualified products have been brought to market with revenues reaching $18 billion in 2009. With $5 billion invested in R&D its first five years, GE committed to doubling its ecomagination investment and collaborate with partners to accelerate a new era of energy innovation.
The company will invest $10 billion in R&D over five years and double operational energy efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. As part of the initiative, GE launched GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid, a $200 million financial commitment challenging innovators to join in developing clean energy technologies. It is extending this Challenge with the GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home, to develop technologies that help households manage their energy usage. For more information, visit the ecomagination website at http://ge.ecomagination.com/index.html.
About GE GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world?s toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com. GE also serves the energy sector by providing technology and service solutions that are based on a commitment to quality and innovation.
The company continues to invest in new technology solutions and grow through strategic acquisitions to strengthen its local presence and better serve customers around the world. The businesses that comprise GE Energy GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas?work together with more than 90,000 global employees and 2010 revenues of $38 billion, to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; as well as other alternative fuels andnew grid modernization technologies to meet 21st century energy needs.
(SeeNews Renewables) - Sep 16, 2011 - German green energy solutions developer Weltec Biopower has finished its fifth biogas power plant in the Czech Republic, after four months of construction and approval by the responsible authorities.
The foundation was laid in March, followed by the installation of the 2,500 cu m stainless steel fermenter, the cogenerator and the 35 cu m vertical batcher. The biogas processing equipment came in May and the test operations started in June, when the plant also received regulatory approval.
The plant's 366 kW gas engine feeds electricity into the grid. The facility runs on agricultural substrates and manure from the nearby farms. The investors received financial support from the EU fund for both environmental issues and rural and agricultural development.
The Czech government sets top priority on green energy production and by 2015 biomass should provide the bigger share of it. This moves players from the country and abroad to invest in the sector. [ http://anaerobic-digestion.com ]
Copyright 2011 SeeNews. All Rights Reserved. www.seenews.com | www.world.seenews.com; e-mail: editor@seenews.com.
The waste from 9,000 pigs will be used to produce electricity and cut CO2 emissions
In North Carolina, US, Duke University and electric and gas service provider Duke Energy, have developed a renewable energy project with the help of search engine Google. The project creates electricity from pig excrement.
The biogas plant has been set up at the Yadkinville-based Loyd Ray Farms, which is home to 9,000 pigs.
Duke Energy and the university have invested $1.2 million (€880,000 million) in the project to date, however Google's investment has not been divulged.
Originally proposed almost three years ago, the project also received grants from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Lagoon Conversion Program.
The plant will slash CO2 emissions by 5,000 tonnes a year – the same as removing 900 cars from the road.
Both Duke Energy and Duke University will cover the costs of operating and maintaining the plant for the first 10 years that it is online. Google will cover a percentage of the university's costs in return for some of the carbon offsets for a five-year period.
Saturday, 13 August 2011 02:01 - Katie May - LETHBRIDGE HERALD
Construction has begun on a new plant that will turn manure into electricity.
Crews broke ground on Friday to build southern Alberta's first biogas plant at Lethbridge's northside Rave Industrial Park, where nearly 160,000 tonnes of liquid organic waste is expected to generate heat and 2.85 megawatts of electricity each year - enough to power 2,500 homes.
The $30-million project has been in the works for the past 10 years at ECB Enviro North America Inc. The company has partnered with St. Catharines, Ont.-based PlanEt Biogas Solutions Inc., which has built five biogas plants across Canada, to form Lethbridge Biogas LP. ECB President Thane Hurlburt said the plant, when it starts production in January 2013, will use an Alberta-developed thermal hydrolysis technology that's "never been done anywhere in the world," to get rid of any infectious diseases present in the animal waste so the final product can be safely used for fertilizer. The plant will collect animal and vegetable waste from farmers, industrial food plants and restaurants throughout Lethbridge County and in Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass to convert into fertilizer pellets, liquid fertilizer and electricity. In doing so, the plant will save a projected 45,000 tonnes of harmful carbon dioxide emissions per year and the power it generates will be sold back to the provincial grid. "We have more than enough hog and dairy manure (locally) to feed the whole plant," Hurlburt said. "If you could gather every last ounce of manure and do nothing but put it through plants like this that generate electricity, we could generate 400 megawatts just within this county." That would be enough to power 400,000 homes. The company plans to hire about 10 people to work at the plant, directly affecting the local economy. Cheryl Dick, the City of Lethbridge's economic development officer, said apart from those financial gains, the plant could make Lethbridge a leader in the field of renewable energy. We believe eventually this is going to become the kind of demonstration site that can help these types of electrical power generators expand right across western Canada," she said. Alberta has one other biogas plant, based in Vegreville, but the relative novelty of the industry in the province put up some roadblocks for the company in working toward plant construction over the past decade. Hurlburt said all levels of government have been "unbelievably supportive of this whole process" and provided some funding, but they faced challenges in permitting the project because some elements of planned operations are similar to natural gas plants and other parts are more like those of waste treatment plants. "But they can't open a book and say, 'oh, here's how we do a biogas plant,' because they don't have that in the book," Hurlburt said. "That's what took the time, from their perspective, to figure out how they'd put this all together." The county is glad the project is finally going ahead, according to County of Lethbridge Reeve Lorne Hickey. "The biggest thing to us at the county is it's a new source of power and it's a green source of power. We're trying to reduce emissions, so that's just a great thing to occur," he said. Hickey predicted the plant's operations will make a big difference to local farmers, who could do more with less land once they have a place to dispose of their waste. "You're really getting the best of both worlds here," he said. "You're going to be able to get rid of (waste) that you would require more land base to spread over and you're also going to be able to get fertilizer back. It's definitely a win-win situation for everybody involved."Please login first to manage your favorite pages.
Hungary’s largest biogas power plant was officially opened on 13 September in the city of Szarvas, where it will provide 4.2 MW of electricity and an equal amount of heat, supporting onsite operations and feeding the local grid.
(It is not clear whether this video is for the same power plant as in the article.)
German company r.e Bioenergie built the combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plant, which features three Jenbacher J416 engines supplied by GE.
The plant is being run in close co-operation with the poultry processing plant operator Gallicoop Pulykafeldolgozó, which provides much of the raw biomass that is converted into biogas to power the Jenbacher engines.
The anaerobic digestion facility is about 4 km east of the poultry processing plant. To optimize the efficiency of the thermal energy, a special pipeline delivers the biogas from the digester facility to the Jenbacher engines at the processing plant.
The CCHP system’s thermal power is then used to supply on-site heating and cooling. Any excess electricity is fed into the local grid.
Steve Zylius / University of California-Irvine - National Fuel Cell Research Center associate director Jack Brouwer at the new "sewage-to-hydrogen" fuel pump. By John Roach, contributing writer at msnbc.com.
An experimental fuel cell at a wastewater treatment plant in California is turning poop flushed down the drain into hydrogen fuel for cars.
More gas
The new system at the Orange County Sanitation District'sFountain Valley sewage treatment plant is fed more biogas than it needs for electricity generation. The excess hydrogen produced when mixed with the hot steam is siphoned off for refueling cars.
"We discovered that by doing that we actually substantially increased the efficiency of the fuel cell so that it produces more energy per unit of fuel going in and it allows that hydrogen to be generated for refueling at almost no energy cost," Samuelson said.
The current system uses a 300-kilowatt fuel cell, though the same type of fuel cell is deployed elsewhere at 1.2, 2.4 and 5.6 megawatts, he noted. So, the process is scalable.
In fact, the so-called tri-generation technology (heat, electricity and hydrogen) should work just as well at landfills as wastewater treatment plants. If so, the collective piles of human waste could "power more than 30 percent of the automobile population" in Southern California, Samuelson noted.
Hydrogen clusters
The novel technology at the Orange County Sanitation District seems fitting for the once-lauded hydrogen highway of the future that has evolved into a series of clusters.
Already, several hundred hydrogen cars are on the road and by 2015 big name automakers such as Mercedes, Honda and Chevrolet plan to have some 50,000 hydrogen-powered deployed in southern California.
Instead of putting hydrogen fueling stations up and down and between the coasts, the government-subsidized industry is putting filling stations where people will buy and drive the cars, explained Chris White, a spokeswoman for the California Fuel Cell Partnership.
"You probably go to the same two or three stations most of the time. We look at the same thing for these fuel cell vehicles," she told me today. "Where do people live, work and play?"
That's where they put what are now called the clusters and one of these clusters is in Orange County, where the new station will officially open on August 16.
"The fact that it's also making hydrogen from sewage is an awesome, awesome, bonus," White added. "We talk about running out of fuel one day, I can tell you we are never going to run out of fuel that's made from [sewage]." [The equipment and methods used are known as anaerobic digesters.]
More on hydrogen cars:
Funding for this $8 million to $9 million project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Air Resources Boardand the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The station was designed by the University of California, Irvine, FuelCell Energy Inc., and Air Products and Chemicals Inc.
John Roachis a contributing writer for msnbc.com.
August 31, 2011 07:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/c98ac0/biogas_power_in_sp) has announced the addition of GlobalData's new report "Biogas Power in Spain, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles" to their offering.
“Biogas Power in Spain, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information on the biogas power market.”
"Biogas Power in Spain, Market Outlook to 2020, 2011 Update - Capacity, Generation, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles is the latest report from GlobalData, the industry analysis specialists that offer 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 Spain (includes wind, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2020.
The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, secondary research and in-house analysis by a team of industry experts.
The Scope of the Report Includes:
Brief introduction and overview on global carbon emissions and global energy consumption. Historical data provided from 2001 to 2010 and forecasts until 2020. Overview on the overall renewable power market in the world, highlighting the fuel types - wind, solar PV, solar thermal, biogas and biomass. Detailed overview on the global biogas power market with capacity and generation forecasts to 2020. Power market scenario in Spain with capacity and generation forecasts to 2020, highlighting fuel types such as thermal conventional, hydro and renewables. Renewable power market scenario in Spain with capacity and generation forecasts to 2020, highlighting fuel types such as wind, biomass and solar PV. Spain biogas power installed capacity and generation trends to 2020 Major active and upcoming plants in the country. Deal volume and value analysis of Spain biogas power market. Deals analyzed on the basis of M&A, Partnership, Asset Financing, Debt Offering, Equity Offering and PE/VC. Elaborate profiling of some of the major market participants. Companies Mentioned:
Ruhamya Dispels Fears About Cost of Biogas Installation
Sep 06, 2011 (The New Times/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- As the campaign to promote the use of biogas for cooking and lighting intensifies, concerns are being raised over the cost of installation and maintenance.
Fixing the smallest plant of biogas costs Rwf 600,000, according to Timothy Kayumba, who heads the National Domestic Biogas Program.
Daniel Muganga, a resident of Ndera in Gasabo says; "We are willing to use biogas, but the price of installation should be reduced so that we can all benefit."
Eng. Coletha Ruhamya, the Minister of State for Energy and Water, told The New Times that the government had launched an incentive to lend Frw300,000 to anyone willing to install the system.
The money is then refunded within a period of three years.
"Sure, there is a big problem in affordability of the biogas plant, but the government currently contributes Rwf300,000 to every citizen wishing to install the energy," the Minister said, adding that the Ministry is also looking into more affordable biogas-systems.
Meanwhile, Kayumba disclosed that the ministry had seconded a qualified technician to every two districts countrywide to approve the safety of any newly installed plant before use.
They also sensitise citizens on the sustainable use and maintenance of the systems.
Kigali-based Lycee de Kigali Secondary School is one of the users of the biogas system. Martin Masabo, the director of the school says that some users are hampered by lack of the qualified technicians.
"For instance, our system was constructed in 1999 when the expertise here was low; it started leaking after using it for a short while and we closed it down," he says. Kayumba, however, said that companies that install the plants are required to provide their clients with a one-year warranty. He clarifies that a well constructed plant should have a minimum lifespan of 30 years. Over 1,300 homes have acquired biogas, in addition to various institutions including schools and prisons. Copyright The New Times. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
One company is making waves in renewable energy circles with its low-cost organic fuel technology.
THE late Tun Ghafar Baba was known for his folksy politics. His speeches were simple but he delivered the messages with dry humour and blunt irony. Among his pet peeves were slothful farmers and wasteful expanses of idle land in rural areas.
Tongue in cheek, the former Deputy Prime Minister used to chide villagers: ?You too can be rich, if we can just find a market for all this lalang (weed grass) and keladi bunting (water hyacinth) around you,?
Ghafar, the country?s longest serving MP (Jasin and Batu Berendam) passed away in 2006 at the age of 76 ? not realising the current value of lalang and water hyacinth ? as organic feed to produce clean, renewable energy.
Power from weeds: Water hyacinth is a key component feed for the Serigas energy plant in Bangalore, India. The plant processes the common weed and other organic wastes to produce methane biofuel.
He would have been amazed that a variety of weeds along with waste from farms, kitchens, slaughterhouses and even humans, are now being turned into highly purified combustible natural gas that can be used for cooking, power electric turbines and even as fuel for vehicles.
Scalene Greenergy Corporation in India, has developed an organic fuel technology that can be utilised at a relatively low cost.
The company is currently making waves in the renewable energy circles with a continuous stream of visitors from all over the world to its 670sqm gas energy plant, located within its research campus in Bangalore.
Biogas is the result of the anaerobic digestion (decomposition without oxygen) of organic matter. It usually comprises methane and carbon dioxide, with traces of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen.
It is not something new. Assyrians used biogas to heat bath water as early as in the 10th century. In the 17th century, Belgian chemist Jan Baptita Van Helmont discovered that decaying organic matter produced flammable gases. Italy?s Count Alessandro Volta noticed the link between the amount of decaying organic matter and flammable gas produced. British scientist Sir Humphry Davy found out that cow dung emitted methane.
In rural India, where biogas or gobar (Hindi for cow dung) gas is widely used as cooking fuel, the first anaerobic digestion plant was built 152 years ago, in a Bombay (now Mumbai) leper colony. But since then, except for newer construction materials, piping and such, there has been very little change in the process and also not much difference in the quality of the gas.
?It has largely remained a simple technology. Bacteria digest the organic matter and produce biogas,? said Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, chairman and chief executive officer of Scalene Greenergy Corporation Ltd and Scalene Cybernetics.
Besides the low efficiency gas (55% to 65% methane), the basic system also produces carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, a corrosive gas, resulting in pumps breaking down frequently.
Kumar, a researcher in biophysics, nanotechnology and sustainable energy, together with members of his Scalene Energy Research Institute (Seri) team, have developed a process to produce high-purity combustible gas, trade marked as Serigas.
Today, as much as 200kg of Serigas can be produced from one tonne of organic waste ? between 30% to 60% more than from existing systems.
The bioreactors used to process waste and harness biogas can be scaled down for use in offices, homes and small communities.
Improved systems
Nine years of research has resulted in several scientific breakthroughs, like the Serigas bioreactor, which converts any biodegradable material into biomethane (up to 98% pure methane).
A significant part of the process is the microbe incubated bioreactor, designed to completely digest a very wide range of biomass, including lignin cellulose and hemi cellulose, within 10 to 24 days. For a long-time, lignin has been the single biggest technical bio-processing barrier to cellulosic biofuels because it is very difficult and costly to separate lignin from cellulose.
A fuel enrichment technology called ?spiral protium accelerating reactor super enrichment? (Sparse), meanwhile, is a combustion booster innovation that reduces fuel consumption of electricity generators by 50%. One kilogramme of refined Serigas can generate 6.5 units of electricity using the Sparse technology. Without Sparse, the power produced is only 3.5 units.
?Serigas has similar properties to fossil natural gas but without the undesirable impurities like butane, propane, pentane and CO2. Our highly controlled biological reaction has a very low cost of installation compared to other biogas, solar and wind energy systems,? Kumar said.
Computers of the bioreactors monitor parameters such as pH levels, temperature, humidity, hydraulic retention, carbon-hydrogen ratio and correct measures automatically.
Serigas can also be used in conventional diesel generators with minimum modifications.
The generators at Scalene?s power plant are fully computerised to work on input from readings on air-fuel variations, engine speeds, oxygen sensors and the spark ignition system. They produce no harmful emissions, except for water vapour.
Besides the gas, the other output of the plant is the 98% digested substance of the organic feed ? between 2% and 4 % solid and the rest liquid. This is turned into a high-grade fertiliser and alkaloids-rich pest repellent liquid.
As a cooking fuel, Serigas has the efficiency of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and safety of firewood, besides being the cheapest cooking gas. It can be delivered through domestic gas pipes and conventional gas cylinders.
The high calorific value of Serigas is also comparable to that of LPG, making it an excellent automotive fuel that produces no carbon monoxide and other polluting gases. Serigas can be compressed into 200kg to 250kg canisters for large vehicles and from 20kg to 30kg canisters for smaller vehicles and motorcycles.
Malaysian partnership
Incidentally, it was a Malaysian who got Kumar involved in renewable energy. Dr Ramesan Pillay, who had undergone multiple angiograms, got to know Kumar ? inventor of the Haemoseis 256 machine, a three-dimensional solution for cardiovascular assessment, diagnosis, management and prognosis ? through a mutual friend. The non-evasive machine that provides crucial physiological data is among the medical devices developed by Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD) ? a division of Scalene Cybernetics.
Dr Ramesan, who now heads Kuala Lumpur-based Scalene Asia Pacific, said he joined the team by starting out with research into medical devices and later ventured into renewable energy.
Serigas has similar properties to fossil natural gas but without the undesirable impurities like butane, propane, pentane and CO2. ?DR RAJAH VIJAY KUMAR
?I have always had a passion for waste management, especially municipal wastes, after being guided by two Indian experts in the field, Dr S.R. Maley and Mr Anjan Das,? he said.
It was Dr Ramesan who pointed out that there was abundant energy in the keladi bunting floating in the lake which could be used as feed. ?The Serigas technology provides the ideal solution for the huge amounts of wastes that Malaysia produces. It can turn what is now unwanted to most wanted and valued,? he said.
Dr Ramesan said the application can be widely used because the feedstock can be any organic wastes, including the 930 tonnes of leftover food ? the equivalent of 93,000 10kg bags of rice ? that Malaysians throw out daily.
?Palm oil effluent remain a huge problem for the industry. A 40-tonne mill, for example, produces up to 24 tonnes of effluent per hour. One tonne of effluent can produce 100 cu m of methane. One megawatt of power can be generated with 6,000 cu m of methane, or less than three hours of plant operation,? he added.
Dr Ramesan said the huge amounts of agricultural waste from almost every other crop and also from pig, cattle and chicken farms were potential feeds.
?The system can also take municipal solid wastes while processing wastes from hotels, island resorts, hospitals into renewable energy and can be custom built to meet requirements under Scalene?s ?plug-and-play? system, using very little manpower.?
He said the food and beverage industry, particularly beer breweries, were another area of focus. ?Spent grain from breweries is a huge and costly problem to get rid off. This technology offers the simple yet valuable answer to the problem,? he said.
A brewery in India, reputedly the second largest in the world, has commissioned Scalene to provide electricity for its plant using spent grain as feed.
The Scarlene Greenery technology will be showcased at the second International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Sept 7 to 10. A portable version, designed for houses, is expected to be on display.
Three companies partner for biogas power plant - 6 September 2011
Three renewable energy companies have formed a partnership to develop and run a biogas pipe plant in Columbia, South Carolina, US.
The new anaerobic digester will convert 48,000 tonnes of organic waste matter into 3.2MW of biogas power.
German plant engineering company Eisenmann will supply its anaerobic digestion technology to the project, while US companies W2E Organic Power and CIYCOR will oversee construction work.
'We have developed a significant group of partners with waste streams for our system and we look forward to beginning this brand new effort to process waste into energy,' says Daniel Rickenmann, CEO of W2E Organic Power, who is confident the project will be completed ahead of schedule.
The joint venture will break ground on the facility before the end of this year, with operations scheduled to begin in 2012.
On Aug. 31, 2010, the public had their first view of the dog and pony show of Frank Howe and Doug Young. They made their first presentation to the County Legislators on the subject of the biogas pipeline. In this presentation they quoted a cost of $3.5 to $7 million dollars to build 40 miles of pipeline. Not one legislator spoke up disagreeing with these figures. Yet Frank Howe, Tim Lattimore and Peter Tortorici, as members of the task force, should have been aware of a March 2009 planning document, where a cost of $60 million was placed on the construction of 20 miles of a biogas pipeline. Why was nothing said about the vast disparity in the cost estimates? Is someone trying to mislead the public to gain acceptance of this project?
I have spent some time researching the 1984 law creating the Cayuga County Public Utility Service Agency (CCPUSA). This is Local Law No. 2 and defines the parameters of the agency and its restrictions. This law forbids the county and the agency power of condemnation and the establishment of generation, distribution and transmission systems. In 2005 the voters passed a referendum to amend this law allowing the agency to own, acquire, use and operate gas utility service and/or alternate energy service. Nowhere, in this amendment, were the restrictions on ownership, operation, use of electric facilities mentioned or amended. It is my opinion that the installation of a generator at the end of the pipeline would be in violation of Local Law No. 2 of 1984 and be illegal.
In a past letter, I estimated a cost of over $40 million for 40 miles of pipeline. Apparently, I was being too conservative in my estimates. As previously stated, in 2009, a core of local government officials has their names on a document stating an estimated a cost of $60 million for 20 miles of pipeline. This core of officials is now the driving force for the construction of the biogas pipeline. One has to ask, who stands to gain from this pipeline? Somehow I don’t think it’s the taxpayers, who will be paying for it.
According to the report Waste-Derived Biogas: Global Markets for Anaerobic Digestion Equipment – Focus on North America sustainable energy production will be the fastest-growing energy sector over the next two decades. From 2010 to 2016, the market is projected to grow from $124 billion in 2010 to $217 billion in 2016. Price instability, supply anxieties, and the environmental aspects of fossil fuels are likely to boost the rate of all non-fossil fuel development.
Currently, the cost of oil has hit highs of over $100 per barrel on the global market, while U.S drivers are paying nearly $4 per gallon of gasoline. Renewable domestic energy supplies are seen as a means of getting past these problems. Biogas, a clean fuel sourced mainly from waste materials, is a significant alternative to conventional fossil energy.
Read more about the report “Waste-Derived Biogas: Global Markets for Anaerobic Digestion Equipment – Focus onNorth America” is available from Report Buyer at:
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.
A new option for small-scale biogas - 9/8/2011 - Farmers Weekly was launched by technology provider Biogas Nord at this year's Dairy Event & Livestock show.
(In the video (below) a hydrolysis stage is shown, but the video was produced by another biogas company, and is included here to show the high temperature heat) hydrolysis stage, to explain the use of hydrolysis in anerobic digestion (biogas) processes -Ed.)
The 75kW BiNoMiniMax has been designed for small to medium-sized livestock farms and runs primarily on slurry or manure from cattle or pigs, plus some supplementary silage.
The company's Owen Yeatman said the single 678m3 digester, with 75kW combined heat and power unit, associated control systems and slurry tank, would cost around £500,000 to install, excluding grid connection. As a guide, it could run on the slurry and manure from 160 cows (around 3000-4000t), plus 900t of maize silage per year, or the slurry from 920 sows plus 900t of silage, he said.
Annual electricity savings for such a dairy unit - assuming 95% efficiency of the CHP system - would be around £20,000-30,000 and with heat used to warm cleaning water for the parlour, as well as the farmhouse, another £10,000 saving could possibly be added, he said. Combined with additional Feed-in Tariff income worth 14p/kWh and Renewable Heat Incentive payments of 6.5p/kWh, that would give a payback of around six years, he claimed.
"It's a simple design that doesn't need a large amount of extra land for the feedstock, as bigger systems do. The 900t of silage needed is only about 2.5t per day, much of which could come from waste silage off clamps, or rougher quality second- or third-cut."
Farmers would have the option to expand the system in the future by adding a second digester tank, he noted.
"A system such as this could run mainly on the farm waste with few extra substrates needed. Biogas plants do require more managing than things like solar or wind, but the returns can be potentially higher and aren't reliant on the weather. It could be useful way of getting a son or daughter involved in the business."
Boosting gas yields
The company also launched a new system for improving the biogas yield from woody or high lignin feedstocks, such as straw, grass, hay and manure. The BioNoLiquifeed hydrolysis unit uses a mix of bacteria to pre-treat feedstocks before they are fed into the digester.
The process reduces the dry matter content and converts the fibrous biomass into acetic acid in around three to five hours, depending on substrates. The pre-treated substrates are then pumped into the primary digester.
Mr Yeatman said the system, which costs around £150,000, could shorten retention times in the digester by up to 20 days and improved the biogas yield from fibrous substrates by 15-20%. It could also mean that other previously overlooked feedstocks, such as oilseed rape straw, could be used, he suggested.
Substrates are fed into the hydrolysis unit using a wheel loader, which reduces the need for more expensive and higher-maintenance slurry stores, walking floors and screw conveyors, he added.
All Rwandan prisons are set to become environmentally friendly following the installation of anearobic digestion plants.
The Deputy Commissioner General of Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS), Mary Gahonzire, disclosed to The New Times that the installation of the Biogas plants in all the prison facilities countrywide is now complete.
According to Gahonzire, the use of firewood for cooking purposes was not only environmentally hazardous but costly too.
"We have finished installing biogas plants in all the prisons, which accounts to 75 percent of the energy needs. The rest is covered by peat energy and a small amount of firewood.
"Peat will supplement biogas and eventually, we hope to completely stop the use of firewood," she noted.
Peat is carbonised vegetation matter used as either fertiliser or a source of energy after decomposition.
Gahonzire further said that the use of biogas has accelerated by the increase of livestock in prisons whose waste is used in the biogas plants.
She added that the use of biogas has reduced heavy expenditure on firewood as a source of energy for cooking in prisons.
"We are currently strengthening the concentration and the high level usage of gas in prisons."
She further revealed that the biogas project is one of the most successful among many of their projects so far.
LONDON (SHARECAST) - AIM-listed green technology company TEG and energy company Alkane are to form a joint venture to handle the contract for a new plant in north-east Wales, which will convert food waste into electricity and fertiliser.
The 15-year contract, which guarantees a supply of food waste to the facility for about 60% of its capacity, is with a consortium of three councils in the area as part of the first of the Welsh government's sponsored organic waste projects.
(NOTE: This is a serious video about Alkane Energy - just be patient and try not to wince too much over the opening sequence!)
The joint venture is to be called NEAT Biogas. TEG will hold 70% of the equity of the joint venture, while Alkane will hold the remaining 30%.
Under the contract, NEAT is planning to construct and operate a new 20,000 tonnes per annum anaerobic digestion (AD) plant to process the food waste supplied by the councils, together with additional third party food waste.
Full year revenues for NEAT are expected to generate 2m, while the facility is expected to produce enough renewable energy to power around 2,000 homes in the area each year.
The AD facility is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2013.
Commenting for Alkane, Chief Executive Neil O'Brien said: "The Alkane/TEG collaboration deal is proving its worth combining our heritage in waste management and energy generation. There is a strong match of the skills of the two teams and we continue to work on a number of other AD projects."
Alkane's share price was up 0.63% to 19.88p at 12:33.
TEG's share price was up 1.25% to 10.12p at 12:33.
The Daily News - Organic waste is the new black gold at the University of Guelph's Ridgetown Campus.
The campus unveiled a $2.6 million FedDev Ontario-funded anaerobic bio-digester that converts agricultural and food industry biomass to biogas.
(We could not find a video by PlanEt Biogas so we have incuded the one above.)
"This is one of the ways we can produce renewable electricity in our community. It's unique in that . . . this can run 24-7 so we can produce hydro at the same level all the time," said Art Schaafsma, director of the Ridgetown Campus.
Schaafsma said the farm scale unit, built by PlanET Biogas Solutions, works much like a cows stomach, utilizing bacteria to break down the ingredients to produce gas which fuels an engine to create energy through a generator.
The unit produces 250-kilowatt hours of electricity and has the capacity to produce the same amount of heat energy as well.
"You go to some farms and they're taking those fans and they're collecting the air and blowing it over a trailer of wood and they're drying wood. Other guys in Eastern Ontario are drying grain," said Matt Lensink, application manager for PlanET Biogas Solutions.
"We can heat about five acres of greenhouse with the heat that comes from this facility," Schaafsma said. "We can recapture nutrients as well, which can go back on the farmers fields.
"We've kind of replaced the cow and made a great big cow," he added.
Lensink said a farmer in the Niagara area has been applying the nutrients captured from a biogas facility on his land for two years and is now able to get a fourth cut of hay off his fields.
He added not only did the farmer say that was unheard of before, but also that the quality of the hay is good.
Dave Van Kesteren, MP for Chatham-Kent Essex, is excited about the possibilities the new biogas facility opens up to Chatham-Kent.
"This it really cool stuff, its got possibilities, huge possibilities," said Van Kesteren. "If we can create the technology, sell the goods but also sell the technology abroad, now we've added another component."
The MP said the big challenge in research is to get the results to the market place and create a new revenue source for local farmers and an opportunity to create new jobs.
"We want to start training (operators) here so we get the great people, because those great people will go into the greenhouses, they'll come up with this innovation, these great ideas and next thing you know we'll be exporting," Van Kesteren said. "We're just getting it going and a guy like Art is going to help make that a possibility."
Ridgetown campus is investing in the bio economy not just for the future of the school and area farmers, but also for the community at large.
"It takes a community to make a campus . . .we feel like we're obligated to . . . help lead and create opportunity so that we have some development in the rural sector," said Schaafsma. "We have to pitch in to make these things happen. All our kids are leaving and we need to provide opportunities so they can stay, many of them want to stay and they can't."
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The Maabjerg BioEnergy biogas plant while under construction: 31 August 2011
Danish energy company, DONG Energy is establishing a green energy consortium with local players to determine if a number of bioenergy projects, including waste to energy projects are technically and economically viable.
Over the coming 15 months, the consortium - Mabjerg Energy Concept - will explore project opportunities in the form of new plants and conversion of existing plants.
According to the consortium, all projects will be within the scope of green energy generation based on local biomass and waste resources, which will be used to generate a range of energy products, including biogas, hydrogen, bioethanol and electricity and heat.
The consortium says that it will look specifically at the possibilities of constructing a second-generation bioethanol plant, expanding the existing Maabjerg BioEnergy anaerobic digestion plant by adding a hydrogen generation plant, as well as converting the existing biomass-fired CHP plant to enable it to handle waste products from the bioethanol plant in future.
Additionally, the consortium will study the possibility of constructing a waste treatment plant that will use enzymes to separate waste fractions for use in biogas production.
Besides DONG Energy, the participants in Mabjerg Energy Concept are: Vestforsyning, Struer Forsyning and the waste company Nomi. Jorgen Udby, Vestforsyning's CEO, is the chairman of the consortium.
"The establishment of Mabjerg Energy Concept will boost the opportunities for Danish research and, especially, export of green energy know-how," says Thomas Dalsgaard, senior vice president of DONG Energy.
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