A Disadvantage of Wind Farms May Be Direct Local Climate Warming

The wind industry in many countries has experienced a remarkably rapid expansion of capacity in the last few years, and this fast growth is expected to continue, and yet there is a disadvantage of wind farms not previously known. 

Governments in many countries are willing to subsidize the technology which is seen as low risk compared to many other renewable energy systems, and yet the renewable energy source already holds many disadvantages, when compared to say anaerobic digestion plants.

In the UK a large number of onshore and offshore wind turbine projects are now moving into the construction stage, with an unprecedented number of onshore wind farms having received planning consent over the last 12 months. Other nations are likely to be in a similar position within the current wind turbine technology and investment bubble.

With all that activity the casual observer would, we think it is fair to say, expect that the sustainability argument for wind turbines would have been well established with all aspects well studied. Investment on this scale is surely not being pumped into a technology which will in future years be found to have undiscovered disadvantages and not be as green as was expected - or is it?

The assumption that wind turbine technology is green has recently been brought into question in a study completed by Liming Zhou, Yuhong Tian, Somnath Baidya Roy, Chris Thorncroft, Lance F. Bosart and Yuanlong Hu, which is reported in the July 2012 edition of the Nature Climate Change Journal.

The researchers point out that while converting the wind's kinetic energy into electricity, wind turbines also modify surface-atmosphere exchanges and the transfer of energy, momentum, mass and moisture within the atmosphere.

They postulate that these changes, if they are present over large enough areas, may have potentially significant impacts on local to regional weather and climate, and they continue in their paper to provide observational evidence for such impacts based on the analysis of satellite data for the period of 2003-2011 over a region in west-central Texas.

They have chosen well, as this is where four of the world's largest wind farms are located. And, they say that their results show a significant warming trend of up to 0.72 degrees C per decade, particularly at night-time, over wind farms relative to nearby non-wind-farm regions. They go on to attribute this warming primarily to wind farms as its spatial pattern and magnitude couples very well with the geographic distribution of the wind turbines studied. So this may be a big disadvantage of wind farms.

The researchers go on to say that their study is not definitive and the data used only crudely represents the effects of wind turbines at this stage. However, 0.72 degrees C per decade sounds like a large rise to us, and large enough to raise a very significant question over the sustainability of wind farms for the local environment, and regional effects may also be present.  This could come to be seen as a big disadvantage of wind farms.

In our view, and in agreement with the authors, we believe that this study should wake up the scientific community to this concern, which is an important issue that requires further investigation. To quote the authors of this paper;

"We need to better understand the system with observations and better describe and model the complex processes involved to predict how wind farms may affect future weather and climate."

Beyond that, should not this sort of basic research to investigate this disadvantage of wind farms have been completed by modelling before, and not after, such a large investment goes ahead?

New UK Environment Minister Favours Anaerobic Digestion and Shale Gas

At this Blog we see this as being superb news for the Anaerobic Digestion business area, especially after views revealed here on this blog site recently, to the effect that the coalition government did not have enough resolve to fund the wonderful options readily available to the nation from a more subsidized push from the government, which would certainly appear to be mainly what is needed for the numbers of UK AD Plants to rise swiftly.

To read the full story on the new Environment Secretary's speech we recommend that you follow the following link:
Paterson pledges support for AD sector

letsrecycle.com

"Environment Secretary Owen Paterson today pledged his support for the anaerobic digestion industry in his first major speech since joining the government front bench. Addressing delegates at an environmental panel session at the Conservative Party ...letsrecycle.com"
http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/compost/paterson-pledges-support-for-ad-sector

Others have also been commenting on the Paterson speech and recent UK government moves in renewable energy as follows:

Paterson warns of 'unintended consequences' of renewable energy

Farmers Guardian

"Paterson warns of 'unintended consequences' of renewable energy. 9 October 2012 | By Alistair Driver. DEFRA Secretary Owen Paterson has warned of the 'unintended consequences' of some forms of renewable energy, including anaerobic digestion."
http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/renewables/paterson-warns-of-unintended-consequences-of-renewable-energy/50369.article

No doubt there are political dangers in unintended consequences of AD technology, but surely the same can be said about all forms of government subsidy?

Now read this which includes comments about Paterson being keen on Shale Gas. Wow! What a reaction that will cause!

Paterson goes for gas: from anaerobic digestion and shale

Energy and Environmental Management (EAEM) Magazine

"Environment secretary Owen Paterson has called the concept of anaerobic digestion "tremendous" and suggested a different approach to subsidies for energy technologies in a speech yesterday in Birmingham. "We have a huge amount of food waste that ...Energy and Environmental Management (EAEM) Magazine"
http://www.eaem.co.uk/news/paterson-goes-gas-anaerobic-digestion-and-shale

We also recently wrote on shale gas (as in syngas from underground coal combustion) in our article at: http://gasification4energy.com/Gasification-and-Pyrolysis-Articles/Underground-Coal-Gasification-Recent-Developments-and-Fears.php .

 

Underground Coal Gasification and How It Could Compete With Biogas

Underground Coal Gasification is a process for exploiting coal that cannot be mined because the seam is too deep, thin or fractured. The process involves using the drilling technology usually used for fracking to get oxygen into the coal seam and then setting the seam on fire. By controlling the amount of oxygen injected it is then possible to only partially burn the coal and bring the gases produced to the surface where they can be burn to produce energy. The process is associated with serious groundwater contamination and massive carbon emissions.

When coal is gasified, rather than burned as at conventional coal plants, impurities such as sulfur and mercury can be stripped out of the gas stream, instead of otherwise being emitted into the air. The resulting fuels burn virtually free of these pollutants. Sulfur-free fuel means less smog and acid rain, among many other benefits.

No Smokestack!

Unlike conventional coal burning plants that ignite the coal and send pollutants up a smokestack and into the air, synfuel plants gasify coal and there is no direct smoke emission. This thermo-chemical conversion takes place in a contained reaction and creates only syngas, a mixture of gases which then can be made into liquid fuel. Just like biogas, syngas can be used for liquid fuel production, and syngas can also be upgraded to natural gas just as biogas can be upgraded into biomethane to be sold on the market or can be used directly as fuel for a power plant.

Now you will say that this is surely environmentally damaging due to the fossil fuel based carbon dioxide emissions, but the coal gasification industry has an answer to that. Plants using syngas could invest in what is known as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants, and although these are currently rare and still in development, they are among the cleanest types of electricity generators.

So, rather than burning coal directly, gasification breaks down coal, or virtually any carbon-based feedstock, into its basic chemical constituents. In a modern gasifier, coal is typically exposed to steam and carefully controlled amounts of air or oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. Under these conditions, molecules in coal break apart, initiating chemical reactions that typically produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.

Gasification is, as we said already  a thermo-chemical process which investors will like as there is no start up time of several weeks of the sort that anaerobic digestion plants need before they produce biogas.

Who Said That Underground Coal Gasification Was Not Environmentally Sound?

The environmental benefits of gasification in combination with the IGCC process during which the syngas is converted to energy by combustion. Its great advantages stem from the capability to achieve extremely low SOx, NOx and particulate emissions from burning coal-derived gases. Sulfur in coal, for example, is converted to hydrogen sulfide and can be captured by processes presently used in the chemical industry. In some methods, the sulfur can be extracted in either a liquid or solid form that can be sold commercially. In an Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC) plant, the syngas produced is to all purposes free of fuel-bound nitrogen.

NOx from the gas turbine is limited to thermal NOx. It is reported that diluting the syngas allows for NOx emissions as low as 15 parts per million. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) can even be used to reach levels comparable to firing with natural gas if required to meet more stringent emission levels. Other advanced emission control processes are stated as being developed that could reduce NOx from hydrogen fired turbines to as low as 2 parts per million.

Carbon Capture is the Trump Card?

These benefits could be combined with carbon capture to prevent the climate changing effects of carbon dioxide emissions once carbon capture and long-term underground storage of the CO2 has been demonstrated to be effective. In which case investors may prefer to put their cash into these power plants, which can be built on a huge scale to allow underground coal gasification to rival the output of traditional coal power plants, so watch out anaerobic digestion for renewable energy!

The US Department of Energy is reported to be working with industry to keep the United States at the forefront of carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies. An innovative clean coal demonstration project in Texas, supported by the Department’s Office of Fossil Energy, is underway.

The United Kingdom is well placed within Europe to develop underground coal gasification by having large reserves of indigenous coal both onshore and offshore in the southern North Sea. These reserves have the potential to provide security of future energy supplies long after oil and natural gas are exhausted. The UK is already building a part UK government and EU funded power station "retrofit" to demonstrate carbon capture and storage in old natural gas fields under the North Sea.

Furthermore, syngas or what is termed as hydrogen oriented Underground Coal Gasification (UGC) for Europe and its Environmental and Safety Aspects are being studied, HUGE2 is a R&D project (2011-2014) co-financed by the EU within the Research Fund for Coal and Steel. It is a follow-up of the project Hydrogen Oriented Underground Coal Gasification for Europe known as HUGE, which was completed in 2010. The EU has funds (although not a much cash as expected due to carbon offsets trading price drops) to fund more projects in carbon capture and IGCC.

Traditional mining methods however are not suited to working many of the UK's on land and offshore reserves, and development and infrastructure costs of new mines so without new technology like underground coal gasification, also known as fracking, many UK and indeed, worldwide reserves would be likely to remain unused, giving anaerobic digestion the best chance to thrive.

Watch Out Biogas? Another Competitor?

But, the concept of gasifying coal underground and bringing the energy to the surface as a gas for subsequent use in heating or power generation has considerable attraction, with spin-offs as a chemical production refinery feedstock instead of oil. So, watch out anaerobic digestion and biogas production devotees, because underground coal gasification (UCG) has the potential to provide a clean and convenient source of energy from coal seams where traditional mining methods are either impossible or uneconomical, and its development is gathering pace.

What is Biogas?

We thought that today we would go back to basics, and use this blog to answer the most common question in the Anaerobic Digestion scene today, which is no doubt a reflection of the large number of people who are now hearing about biogas for the first time.

So, you want to know what Biogas is! Few are aware of it, but the anaerobic digestion process is as old as life, and we here we explain what biogas is, how biogas is made, and how it can help the planet.

The basis for biogas is natural product such as meals scraps and feces which are held in an anaerobic tank, which can easily vary from a storage tank which is not ventilated to a gadget which is especially made to produce gases. The conditions encourage anaerobic micro-organisms, which start to break down the organic product, producing methane and carbon dioxide as a resultant effect. Yet another type of biogas which features hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide can be obtained through the gasification of biomass such as wood or rice husks, a method which is used to make gas industrially.

Biogas is the gas that is the product of the food digestion of natural products under anaerobic conditions. Substrates such as manure, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste, bio-degradable wastes or feedstock are transformed into methane and carbon dioxide.

The biogas digester depends on bacterial decomposition of biomass, waste material which is biological in origin, varying from cooking area scraps to cow dung. As anyone who has walked past an inadequately kept outhouse or garden compost pile is mindful, when anaerobic conditions establish in a collection of biomass, they entice bacterial organisms which emit a number of distinctive gases, most notably methane, in the procedure of digestion. These gases are typically deemed a symptom of inability and they are vented away for disposal, but they can in fact be really helpful.

Exactly How is Biogas Produced?

Biogas is made in the Anaerobic food digestion process. There are many methods which this is done, ranging from in containers, for experimentation, to significant tanks. The largest anaerobic food digestion plants are those utilized for digesting the sewage sludge which collects in all sewerage works. The biggest number of anaerobic digesters are the so-called "dome kind". These biogas digesters start underground. The organic matter (also called slurry) is displaced into a "settlement tank" as the biogas forms. The gas is collected in a brick framework that sits above ground, right over the decaying matter.

Another type of anaerobic digestion plant is the Floating Drum Type. This sort of digester additionally begins underground. A metal drum drifts above the slurry, either in a water jacket or straight on the slurry. The drum floats greater and higher as it is filled with biogas.

Winding Up

It has actually constantly been crucial to do just what we can easily for our environment, but the continuing massive boosts in industrial procedures and output has actually made it more essential than ever before. And not only are our industrial outputs increasing, but our global population continues to grow at a steady pace, necessitating a huge change in the way we approach our industrial practices.

Biogas generators have not yet come to be a common piece of machinery in residences since a totally efficient model has actually not yet been completely developed yet. There are many designs that do in reality produce superb power and a solid backup system.

In the meantime, many of these generators can currently power a strong range of devices, however the accessibility of fuel is an additional factor that has held the propagation of these generators in check. But, their usage is expanding fast and they are terribly required to supply clean sustainable energy to the globe.

We hope that reading this has actually alerted you to the potential of biogas from anaerobic digestion to alter energy and our globe for the better so we advise you discover out more at the following link: Biogas Digester Website www.biogas-digester.com

Ways You Can Use Green Energy To Power Your Home

A lot of people are concerned about the environment, but don't have a good idea of what they can do to help. Interestingly, an environmentally friendly energy industry has been emerging to serve customers who are interested in making a difference. This article provides many tips so you can live a green lifestyle.

Try switching to CFLs. The compact fluorescent bulbs tend to use about 75 percent less energy than the traditional incandescent bulbs do, plus they last around 10 times longer. They are pricier than the traditional bulbs, but it takes only a few months to make up for it in energy savings.

Warm-air registers, radiators, and baseboard heaters need cleaning at least once per year. It is best to clean these at the beginning of the cold season so they are ready to work at top efficiency once the weather turns cold. Clean heating units will distribute the heated energy evenly.

If you are charging products within your home, use smart green ideas to conserve energy by unplugging these devices when you are done. Even when they are fully charged, these units still consume energy and cost you money. So unplug them when they are finished, and save some energy and money.

Try using cold water in the washing machine whenever it is possible. 90% of the energy used by washing machines is for heating up water. Because of this, using warm water will just increase your monthly utility bill and decrease the amount of money you have at the end of the month.

One simple way to update your home with green technology is, to install solar panels. These can help decrease the amount of energy you use, and save you some money. Not to mention they are not extremely expensive, and are easy to install. There are even some government incentives for updating your home with solar panels.

Consider a ground-source heat pump for your home. A ground source heat pump makes use of the constant temperature of the ground in order to heat and cool the home. The ground temperature will be warmer than the air in winter but cooler in the summer, making for highly efficient heat exchange.

Always have a backup power source for a wind generation system. Your system needs to be able to account for low-wind days. This backup could be another type of renewable source, such as a battery system powered by solar, or a diesel generator. Another option is to have the home plugged into the utility power grid.

Think about getting a hybrid car. Electric cars have many flaws, including the low number of charging stations. With a hybrid car, you can use either gas or electric power, depending on what is available. Invest in a hybrid vehicle if you live close to a charging station or can get your own.

If there is running water on your property, you should consider investing in a good hydro-power solution. A simple mill can turn into an energy generator. Get in touch with Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to find out if your stream is strong enough to produce a significant amount of power.

Find out if there are any incentive programs in your area to help you offset the costs of installing green energy solutions. In the US you can use the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy to check out local incentive programs which you can take advantage of, but also contact your Department of Energy office.

Consider opting for a solar hot water heating system. If you must use hot water to run your dishwasher or do your laundry, a solar hot water system can benefit you. If you live in an area where freezing is not a concern, a direct circulation system will be perfect for you.

You can save the energy it takes to generate paper bills by signing up for paperless bank statements. Most banks will allow you to view your statements online instead of receiving a multi-page paper statement. Banks also offer online bill paying features which allow you to save even more by not using a paper envelope to mail payments.

As this article mentioned before, there are many people who are looking to make a difference in the environment and are seeking to reduce their carbon or environmental footprint. If you have the right information, it's easy to implement green energy solutions in your life. Use the advice in this article and green living is just around the corner.

First London Anaerobic Digestion Plant Gets Green Investment Funding

The internet is buzzing with the news that London will soon get its own Anaerobic Digestion (biogas) Plant, so below is a round-up of what you can read online about this.

First London Anaerobic Digestion Plant means the city won't be left behind in Green Energy Race

We were just thinking that it was about time that London caught up with the rest of the UK in its provision of AD Plants, and now we have it. No doubt flushed by his popularity, London Major Boris Johnson has out his support behind the project which has secured just over £20M (GBP) in funding, which is no mean feat to achieve in the current economic climate.

Scroll down for the round-up of news links, below the fascinating video from Torse and Lindhurst Engineering.

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Watch this video from TORSE for a new biogas plant in research at Nottingham University which produces a hydrogen rich biogas in a smaller footprint unit.

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First AD Biogas Plant to Treat Organic Waste in London Secures Funds

Waste Management World

"The facility will process food and green waste using anaerobic digestion (AD) and In-vessel composting (IVC) technology on a 4.7 acre site on the Mayor of London's 60 acre London Sustainable Industries Park (LSIP). The Mayor has committed over £10 ..."
http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/7360297793/articles/waste-management-world/markets-policy-finance/2012/09/First_AD_Biogas_Plant_to_Treat_Organic_Waste_in_London_Secures_Funds.html

TEG wins EPC contract for London's first anaerobic digester

Biomass Magazine

"Work to develop London's first anaerobic digestion (AD) facility is underway. The TEG Group recently announced it has secured funding to construct a £21 million ($33.4 million) organic waste facility at East London's Dagenham Dock, including an AD plant."
http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/8043/teg-wins-epc-contract-for-londonundefineds-first-anaerobic-digester

TEG agrees funding for green power plant

Financial Times

"London's first anaerobic digestion facility to create electricity from household waste has been given the green light, after TEG Group and the plant's funders agreed terms to get the project off the ground. Located within the Dagenham industrial park ..."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/271fd73e-f4e9-11e1-b120-00144feabdc0.html

TEG first company to get investment from Government's UK Green Investments

scrap-ex

"TEG Group has received funding to construct a £21 million anaerobic digestion plant in east London's Dagenham Dock. The new facility will be capable of processing 30,000 tonnes of food waste via anaerobic digestion and 19,000 tonnes of green waste from ...scrap-ex"
http://www.scrap-ex.com/waste_to_energy/2012/teg_first_company_investment_governmentrs_uk_green_investments.html

With all this publicity, the way to get known must be to get involved in projects in the capital city. There is nothing like it for getting the press to write about you!
Also, finally, after many years of promises from the UK government the Green Investment Bank does seem to be getting going. May there now be many more projects, which get their funding, as this one has done!

 

UK Demonstrator Anaerobic Digestion Plant which Paved the Way for UK Food Waste Digestion to Close

So, sadly, Shropshire Council and Biogen have announced the closure of the Biocycle food waste anaerobic food digestion (biogas) plant in Ludlow.

Back in 2010 the council were looking at stopping household food waste collections in the area as a reaction to the need to cut finances although this isn't sated to be a reason for the plant's closure.

The information available in press reports makes it clear that after what is described as a really successful six years operating as the UK's first demonstrator food waste anaerobic digestion plant, the choice has actually been made to wind down plant operations in the course of September with the full closure of the plant by the end of 2012."

It would certainly seem that while it was by all accounts a technical success, the site was definitely too smal to be economically viable, and local CHP use of the waste heat had not been implemented which would have added to revenue, plus the site is fully used and presumably not suitable for expansion.

The 5,000 tonne per annum plant, built in 2005 as a non-commercial operation at a time when many in the UK questioned the viability of such plants for household waste, and was set up with financing from DEFRA and Advantage West Midlands. 

Biocycle currently services a few contracts outside Shropshire, but reportedly there are now other AD plants which can process this waste.

Take a look at the following article for more information:

UKs first demonstrator food waste anaerobic digestion plant to be closed...

(author unknown)

"Shrewsbury UK Shropshire Council and Biogen have jointly agreed to cease operation of the Biocycle anaerobic digestionAD plant at Coder Road Ludlow After a ...www.recyclingportal.eu/artikel/29167.shtml" http://www.recyclingportal.eu/artikel/29167.shtml

How Genetically-Engineered Bacteria are Turning Waste into Fuel

From Guest Author Kyle Elliot.

Using microorganisms to solve human needs is hardly anything new; from crude-oil producing algae to pro-biotic drinks, a whole host of miniature marvels are proving that bigger is not necessarily better.

And in the world of waste management, we're no strangers to the principal; technologies like anaerobic digestion have been installed for decades now, turning waste into useful biogas that can be fed back into generators for heating and electricity.

This week, however, a whole new level was useful waste-usage has been reached by the scientists at MIT, whose latest advancement is a bacteria with a rather special party trick - turning waste into fuel.

To give the bacteria it's proper name, Ralstonia eutropha is naturally a miniature plastics factory. Whenever the organism is stressed, it goes into 'carbon storage mode'; taking carbon from any source -and given the sheer amount of carbon in the world, it never falls short - and turns it into a polymer that it can break down for later use.

Whilst plastic seems so inorganic and man-made, Ralstonia eutropha's polymer shares many properties with petroleum-based plastics, according to Christopher Brigham, a research scientist in MIT’s biology department.

Brigham explained that his research team saw the bacteria's potential as a two-birds-with-one stone potential - a natural resource which could provide a waste management solution and produce fuel, by knocking out a few genes, inserting a gene from another organism and tinkering with the expression of other genes, Brigham and his colleagues were able to redirect the microbe to make fuel instead of plastic.

The result is this specially-engineered organism, which breaks down carbon and produces isobutanol - which can be directly substituted for, or blended with, petrol and other fossil fuels.

Whilst the team's marquee experiment has been getting the microbe to use pollutant CO2 as a carbon source, elsewhere in the laboratory, the microbes have been using fructose, a sugar, as their carbon source.

Turning Waste Into Fuel with Ralstonia Eutropha 

Even focusing on fructose, the MIT-produced bacteria could be introduced into landfills, breaking down food waste, agricultural waste or municipal waste into something that could directly fuel automobiles or generators - with no harmful byproducts.

Whilst it will take years more research to perfect the bacteria and plan how it would work within existing facilities, this environmental-issue-busting 'two-for-one' has already proven itself as a potential waste management solution to watch for in the future.

Article sponsored by waste management solution provider MT Waste.

See original article here. 

Pluses and Minuses for Anaerobic Digestion vs Aerobic Digestion

With anaerobic digestion becoming progressively more popular in recent years, the question arising more and more often in people's minds is the how to assess the balance of advantages and disadvantages of the two processes when wondering whether to adopt anaerobic digestion vs aerobic digestion at the outset of a project. 

For the purpose of this article, in order to avoid complicating the issues unnecessarily, we shall limit our discussion to the case of organic waste processing and not energy crop production.

Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion: 

Reasons In Favor of anaerobic digestion vs aerobic digestion are very significant if you decide to choose just one or the other for your project. However, while reading this please bear in mind that there is no reason why an aerobic digestion system (which is more correctly known as composting) cannot be incorporated on the same site beside the anaerobic digestion (AD) plant. By doing this the owner of a waste can have the best of both worlds very often.

1. Returning to the benefits of anaerobic digestion, probably the most important benefit not available to the "composter" (aerobic digestion plant operator) is the ability to produce a valuable gas, known as biogas. By burning the biogas produced in an anaerobic digestion plant, energy can be used on-site, or the sale of excess energy can be used to generate revenue from the AD plant.

Such projects gain good publicity because they provide sustainable renewable power from plants which are often called Waste to Energy (WTE) Biogas Plants, or may be described as Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities.

2. A second advantage of anaerobic digestion comes from the fact that a liquid portion of the digestate is produced which has high value as a fertilizer.

One additional basis for stating that the liquid digestate fraction is an advantage of anaerobic digestion is in the fact that a liquid portion of the digestate is produced in most of these process variants, which has high value as a fertilizer. This has the further advantage of improving soil structure, that is certain to prevent making the mistake of thinking that the fertilizing effect is the only benefit that digestate gives.

3. Anaerobic digestion when all feed and discharge operations are carried out in a closed building with proper air-filtration systems for expelling de-odorised air can be less odor producing than aerobic composting.

Then there's the fact that as well as spreading the digestate is generally recognized to produce less odor nuisance than spreading manure on farmland, any odor tends to dissipate faster than is the case for fresh manure. That's crucial because it can be very unpleasant for residents close to aerobic digestion plants when odors are producd, and also along with odor there may be tiny aerosol particles present from aerobic composting which can be harmful to health. If you take that into mind, then it makes sense to encourage anaerobic digestion and avoid aerobic digestion.

That is the pros of anaerobic digestion vs aerobic digestion. There is a negative side also. Let us focus on a handful of the negatives.

Drawbacks: Arguments Against Anaerobic Digestion vs Aerobic Digestion

1. Anaerobic digestion plants cost more to build than a simple open slab (windrow) composting plant.

If you ever thought why anaerobic digestion was not in the past used more than aerobic digestion, that might produce the effect of anaerobic digestion plants cost more to build than a simple open slab (windrow) composting plant.. There is no way that that could be a good thing. It could be enough reason for avoiding doing it at all.

2. Anaerobic digestion needs a consistent supply of organic feed material, and such feed as food waste is hard to obtain.

In the UK until now this has been a problem, but with more and more waste municipal collection authorities now starting to collect source segregated food waste from households, this is less of a problem than it used to be.

3. Not many people know how to efficiently and reliably operate an anaerobic digestion plant compared with the people who know how to operate a composting system, after all composting happens in a garden composting heap without any real control or "operation being needed.

One more cause to avoid anaerobic digestion vs aerobic digestion is not many people know how to efficiently and reliably operate an anaerobic digestion plant but people can, and are being trained quite quickly to learn these skills. I advise everyone to consider this point seriously, because it can result in you becoming a leader in a new trend to make your own energy, if you go for the anaerobic digestion option, or if you go for aerobic digestion (composting) finding out later that your business is considered not to have good environmental credentials as it consumes energy rather than making it. And, if you decide to use and promote anaerobic digestion you are into something growing and destined to get a lot bigger anyway.

So that is that. There are the positives and negatives of anaerobic digestion vs aerobic digestion. So it's actually not what everyone wants and requires. But it will suit and help many. You must look at the info presented to make your personal determination, for or against. You will be able to make an optimal decision influenced by the information provided here in this article.

Learn tips on how to be a anaerobic digestion expert by going to this anaerobic digestion training website at anaerobic-digestion.com/downloads/.

UK Biofertiliser Certification Scheme for Digestate Success or Failure

Will a viable market for source-separated biodegradable waste derived digestate ever be established for this undoubtedly high nutrient and soil improvement value fertilizer?

The problem for all Anaerobic Digestion Plant operators in the municipal waste management/ recycling sector has always been that the digestate they produce is classified as a waste. So, it cannot effectively generate a revenue stream for them, and may need to be treated before it can be disposed of. Such treatment, which is done in a water treatment plant, is very expensive indeed.



No matter how good a fertilizer this digestate may be, anyone using it on farmland must comply with stringent waste management regulations. Such regulations, even where its use is feasible, bring high costs and also put-off potential users. After all, where would you find a supermarket that would be happy to see their vegetables described as fertilized by an industrial waste?

The big hope has been the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme, and the hope that it would eventually be extended to other digestate sources.

However, the news just published on the Let's Recycle website provides us with only the  slightest hope. And, Yes. The Biofertiliser Certification Scheme moves forward, but not dramatically.
Let's Recycle News says that the number of anaerobic digestion facilities certified under the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme (BCS) has risen to eight.

The Biofertiliser Certification Scheme implements the PAS110 Quality Protocol for Anaerobic Digestate, which was published in its final form as long ago as January 2009. It applies only for source-separated biodegradable waste derived digestate.

It was seen as a lifeline for municpal waste source-separated digestate producers, at the time.

Although it is only applicable to one type of waste, it's adoption was to at least provide a means through which this form of digestate, created from waste materials, could be productively sold as a fertilizer. Maybe in time, and once its value has been fully realised by the farmers using it, it was hoped they will be willing to start to pay for it.

But, it must be questioned whether at the current rate of uptake of the scheeme, whether the UK AD industry will ever get there...

You can find out more detail about this news by following the links below:

News in Brief

letsrecycle.com

"The number of anaerobic digestion facilities certified under the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme (BCS) has risen to eight, five of which have been certified since the beginning of the year. Agrivert's Cassington AD plant was certified earlier this ...letsrecycle.com"
http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/general/lnewsitem.2012-08-15.8601480050

A previous early adopter of the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme was GWE Biogas, which was featured on the Renewable Energy Association Newspage:

GWE Biogas Secures REA Biofertiliser Certification - News - REA

"GWE Biogas’ Sandhill Biogas Plant has become the fourth UK AD site certified under the REA Biofertiliser Certification Scheme On 4th April 2012 GWE Biogas’ Sandhill Biogas Plant became certified for all three products under the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme: separated liquor, separated fibre, and whole digestate. The plant can process around 50,000 tonnes of food waste annually through anaerobic digestion (AD), reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and generating a significant amount of renewable energy in the process."
http://www.r-e-a.net/news/gwe-biogas-secures-rea-biofertiliser-certification

Background Info on the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme for Digestate:

The Renewable Energy Association's Biofertiliser Certification Scheme (BCS), which has been created for the purpose of certifying biogas plants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland against the PAS110 and Quality Protocol (QP) for the production and use of Quality Outputs from the anaerobic digestion of source-separated biodegradable waste.
Biogas plants in Scotland are certified against the PAS110 with further conditions specified by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

We have no information on the number of applications or awards for the Scottish scheme.

Digestate Success or Failure?

So, should the Biofertiliser Certification Scheme be considered a success?

We understand that feedback has been received from the applicants while going through the certification process, so hopefully this will lead to some streamlining of the application and award process.

Surely, all parties have to keep working on this, as it is the only route which exists toward establishing digestate products for this type of waste derived digestate which can be sold as such, and allow the producers to get the deserved income from this material.

Meanwhile, treating digestate from the growing numbers of UK municipal organic waste digestion plants is not only expensive, but consumes large amounts of energy. One wonders whether all those environmental impact assessments, and carbon footprint assessments based upon the use of the digestate as a crop fertilizer displacing carbonaceous sourced mineral fertilizers, should not now be being rewritten?

Malaby Biogas Up and Running So Attention Turns to Waste Food Collection

Now that Warminster's new biogas plant is operating, the drive now is now on for the operating company to sign up more members to its waste food collection scheme. Long standing subscribers to this blog might think that once a biogas plant has been commissioned, that's the end of the story, whereas for those plants that will obtain their a large part of their feed stocks from the community, the daily round of bringing in the waste feed materials has only just begun. Staright away though, it is obvious that there are immediate spin off benefits from this project. The first comes from the fact that some waste producers will be able to replace the 80 mile round trip to the landfill, with a return journey to the AD Plant of less than 10 miles.

Here we bring you highlights from the recent report from the new anaerobic digestion plant, operated by Bradford on Avon firm Malaby Biogas:

Director Thomas Minter said: “Our local ‘Direct to AD’ collection scheme is now building and we give priority to local food waste, so we hope the support we received during construction will translate into active participation.”

Among the local businesses that has signed up for the scheme, in which food waste is collected twice-weekly by plant employees and delivered to the plant, is the Prince Leopold pub in Upton Lovell.

Landlord Chris Wood said: “We are finally able to do something that reduces our waste travel miles and makes our bins cleaner.

It is fantastic that we have a ground breaking business on our doorstep so now we can genuinely tell our customers we are being green and supporting local businesses.”

View the original article here

WELTEC Constructs 370 kW Anaerobic Digestion Plant in Bure Switzerland

WELTEC BIOPOWER has started the construction phase of a biogas plant with a planned electrical output of 370 kW in Switzerland. The plant will be a biogas with CHP cogeneration scheme will supply its heat surplus to heat the local training barracks which can be seen at the back of the photo provided here.

If you would like more information (this is only a small part of the article, plase visit the webiste by following the link below:

The “Bio.Etique. Energie SA” plant is located in the Swiss Canton of Jura. It is a major agricultural area as it has fertile soil. The WELTEC plant will process farm manure, dung, liquid manure, green waste, and grain waste.

The WELTEC plant will be feeding 3 GWh into the power grid annually. This amount will be able to provide continuous power for 900 residences. The plant will generate 2.6 GWh of excess heat annually and this will be used for heating the barracks housing around 1,400 trainees.

Switzerland has plenty of resources for anaerobic digestion plant expension. In agriculture - organic waste, crop residue, dung and liquid manure of about 20 million tonne are available. About 5% of Switzerland’s heating requirements and 4.5% of its power requirements can be generated from biogas. The use of biogas will have a positive eco-balance.

View the original article here

UK Anaerobic Digestion Community Shocked by RO Subsidy Exclusions

The four excerpts we have included below, all from recent news releases from the UK AD and renewable energy industry opinion-formers, show the level of shock and disbelief at the government's announcement of forthcoming consultation on new Renewables Obligation (RO) subsidy bands.

Also, the latest UK Government RO announcements conflict with rising expectations on AD Plant subsidies after their announcement on their Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) plans, made just last week.

The proposal that ROCs subsidy will exclude all plants between 50kW and 5MW output level - which is in the range almost all AD Plants projects are planned for - amounts to a virtual scrapping of the RO subsidy for the vast majority of AD projects.

At a stroke the UK government has announced a body blow to the development of potentially thousands of on-farm and community food waste AD plant projects which were otherwise set to proceed with aid of the expected lower RO output limit.


The young, rapidly growing UK anaerobic digestion industry risks being nipped in the bud, and all those innovative new technological developments expected to flow from the scramble for business in the sector, will gather dust. And, all this at a time when the nation so badly needs to develop new energy sources, develop new jobs, and develop products at home to sell on the world market.

This week industry leaders as a whole have been asking for a cabinet reshuffle in order to get the government to focus more on the economy. Here, surely is another example of a lack of economic vision...

As stated already, we are not alone in our criticism. We have included below extracts from other news releases and articles from the AD industry, for your further reading:

AD dealt double blow

Materials Recycling Week

"The anaerobic digestion (AD) industry faces “disaster” after being “squeezed from both sides” by two Government announcements on renewable energy subsidies, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) has warned. REA head of biogas David Collins said ..."
http://www.mrw.co.uk/news/ad-dealt-double-blow/8633727.article

Renewables Obligation for Anaerobic Digestion should be maintained ...

(author unknown)

"energy and environmental management magazine, the definitive resource for news features and opinions in the energy, environmental management and renewable ...www.eaem.co.uk/.../renewables-obligation-anaerobic-digestio..."
http://www.eaem.co.uk/opinions/renewables-obligation-anaerobic-digestion-should-be-maintained

Plans to exclude generators from RO leave industry 'flummoxed'

Business Green

"Alongside new levels of support, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey also announced there will be a consultation later this year on excluding solar, wind, anaerobic digestion, and hydro-electric projects between 50kW and 5MW. This would leave ..."
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2194135/plans-to-exclude-generators-from-ro-leaves-industry-flummoxed

ROCs banding review 'a disaster' for AD industry

letsrecycle.com

"However, in a surprise move, DECC also proposed ending ROC support for anaerobic digestion plants under five megawatts from April 1 2013, subject to consultation. The review document states: “The government will shortly consult on proposals to exclude ..."
http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/energy/rocs-banding-review-2018a-disaster2019-for-ad-industry

To sum up. It really is strange as this move comes without any obvious purposeful policy change. Can the manner in which such matters are handled by government really be going to be done in such a disfunctional manner... Let's hope for some re-thinking in this area during consultation.
If you have a view on this news we would be very pleased to recieve your comments.

Best AD Anaerobic Dihestion Project Award for WELTEC Biogas in UK

WELTEC BIOPOWER's expertise has won their client Fernbrook Bio the 2012 UK AD & Biogas Associations (ADBA) industry award for "Best Biogas Project". Their anaerobic digestion facility which produces a 1.5 MW output impressed the judges with its efficient  in operation and innovations within its design. From this fact and the reputation of ADBA, we can reasonably assume that it is the top example of the best in waste utilisation AD plant technology currently available.

The plant is siutated near Kettering, Northamptonshire and it is supplying about 3,000 households with power. To do that it processes approximately 30,000 tonnes per annum of biowaste and food waste and converting it into electricity. For this purpose, WELTEC had equipped the biogas plant for the operator to include food unpacking, separation and pasteurisation systems.

Please vist the original webste (link below) for the full article:

"Fernbrook Bio" is very happy about the award. Following the award ceremony, Director Shaun Cherry commented: "We have been cooperating with WELTEC BIOPOWER for almost four years, and we are pleased with this partnership, which has now won due and deserved recognition in the form of the 'Best AD Project' award. WELTEC has truly deserved this award because it offers, not only top-edge premium plants, but also efficient service." ADBA's decision to award Fernbrook Bio with the title also included the operators' community work through visits to and from local schools and systematic publicity activities.

Another biogas plant of WELTEC BIOPOWER also made it onto the shortlist of nominations: the 1.3 MW "Lower Reule Bioenergy" installation in Gnossall, Staffordshire, which also processes food waste. This biogas plant's electricity is also supplied to approx 2,600 homes. The operator uses the heat generated from the plant to heat their farm buildings and to dry the digestate, which is spread out over agricultural areas as a fertiliser. Lower Reule Bioenergy was nominated in the "Best integration of AD into a farming business" and "Best AD Project" categories.

View the original article here

Small Scale Food Waste to Biogas AD Systems New Dawn for UK Biogas Production

Things are hotting up on tyhe UIK biogas scene. Hard on the governments announcement yesterday of final consultations with the industry on the enewable Heat Incentive for AD, which is a new form of additional subsidy for AD, Burdens have made this announcement, which if successful and their small commercial scale biogas plant system becomes popular, could change the industry forever from a miraid of small companies with bespoke AD plant designs to an almost mass-produced market for food waste AD Plants.

The company will offer a "fully funded option". This will remove a huge problem from the small businesses that can make use of this, and is expected to raise a lot of interest.

Bristol, UK based small scale anaerobic digestion systems supplier, has announced their own patented design. What is more. Burdens Environmental informs us that it has completed its trials of a demonstrator facility in Wales, which is now accepting waste from Carmarthenshire Council and HRH Prince Charles' estate in Wales The floowing is the excerpt from the article which took our interest. You are reminded that the full article contains much fuller information about this biodigester, and can be access via the link below the quoted text which follows:

The company claimed that the facility is the UK's first commercial small scale anaerobic digestion (AD) system for localised food waste treatment, and that it now plans to roll out compact food waste treatment plant.

According to Burdens the system has been designed to speed up the adoption of AD food waste treatment plants in the UK by making them commercially viable and thereby increasing recycling rates for municipal and commercial food waste across the country.

Each Burdens system will be capable of handling between 3000 and 5000 tonnes of food waste per year, and the company said that it is offering a fully funded solution for the modular waste treatment plants, as well as an option to buy outright.

The fully funded package will involve the company paying its customers to run the operations, with a full maintenance programme and rent for the land on which it will be located being covered by Burdens.

In return, the company said that it will benefit from the Feed in Tariff and Renewable Heat Incentive linked to the renewable energy outputs of the recycling process.

In addition, full turnkey plants will be available for between £850,000 and £2 million, which the company said would provide a rapid payback through significant operational savings, as well as revenues from energy generation and gate fees.

The company added that its system is the first digester of its size to be Animal By Products Regulations (ABPR) compliant, which means that it can recycle general food waste, including meat.

It also claimed that the system meets compost, soil and land use regulations (PAS 100, PAS110). The biofertiliser generated is used as a beneficial fertiliser on local farm land.

View the original article here

If you apply for information. Come back and tell us more about your experience.

UK Government Publishes More Information on Renewable Heat Incentive and Updates to the Fee-in-Tariff Rates

Non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive

The UK Government says it is providing certainty for investors in renewable heat and small-scale electricity, but there is still a way to go, with the first recording of metered heat-use more than a year away. 

However, the UK AD industry has been waiting a long while already, and will be relieved that this further announcement and the start of another round of consultation has at least gotten underway just in-time before the start of the summer holidays.

What has actually been done is that the government has unveiled proposals to improve the performance and manage the future budget of the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). They are further fleshing out the mechanisms by which the RHI will work in a final round of consultations before the start of implementation in 2013, beginning with the large installations first.

An advance accreditation scheme, which is part of the package, will help with obtaining funding.

AD Feed-in Tariffs

The UK Government today also announced changes to the Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs), following the consultation which took place earlier this year. Those tariffs remain the same, except for the large scale rate which reduces slightly. 

This reduction is to be expected under the concept of degression. As the technology develops costs and investment risk will also fall and the subsidy level will reflect this. There is evidence at the large scale that processes are becoming more robust and reliable and it can be argued that such a reduction will not harm the industry take up of the AD process at this level.

However, the industry will be disappointed that more tariff support has not been given to the small scale plants in the UK, but as the industry has been pressing for more support for smaller biogas producers for some time, in order to bring the costs within the range of average sized farm operations throughout the UK.

That would have provided a potential explosion in biogas take-up and a very large number of plants built, which could rival those in Germany. It would contribute to government renewable energy targets more rapidly than wind can achieve and it seems disappointing that the government has not had the vision to go for growth in this way. After all the biogas industry is quite labour intensive and the boost to the UK economy would have been significant.


Home grown energy would keep the money in the UK and Europe rather than the alternative payments for fossil fuels which presumably end up largely in the hands of the major oil producing states.


For government the downside would have been the cost in terms of the additional burden on the energy companies, and the government will have been anxious to avoid the press and right-wing conservative MPs suggesting that the government is putting the economy at risk by burdening it with “green” payments. The government would see that as very damaging at such a time of cuts and recession.

It is pleasing that microCHP subsidies are being increased. Micro combined heat and power or micro-CHP is an extension of the now well established idea of cogeneration to the single/ multi family home or small office.

The new tariffs for AD will be:

≤250kW: The current rate of 14.7 p/kWh will remain unchanged
>250 - ≤500kW: The current rate of 13.6 p/kWh will remain unchanged
>500 - ≤5000kW: The current rate of 9.9 p/kWh will decrease to 8.96 p/kWh from December 2012

For more information on the changes to the Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentive please visit: www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/news/pn12_085/pn12_085.aspx

Siloxanes the Elephant in the Cupboard for MSW Biogas?

As more municipal waste biogas plants come on stream, which use mechanically separated "black bag" waste, there will be impurities persent, and there are concerns that one of those impurities "siloxane" will turn out to cost a lot of money to remove. Also, Anaerobic Digestion Plant operators will experience costly downtime for repairing badly damaged gas engines. We all know that unreliable power output costs in terms of the tarrif paid by the recieving electricity company, so this ends up as a double whammy. This could be an elephant lurking in the cupboard as the rapid uptake of municipal waste to energy fermentation just gets going.

That is why we were particularly interested to read the article excerpted below. We have included only part of this excellent and well-informed article below. So, we expect that many of you will follow the link below and visit the original web site for the full article. All comments giving your views on whether this danger is significant will be apperciated:

Siloxanes are a subgroup of silicones containing Si-O bonds with organic radicals. They are widely used for a variety of industrial processes. They are also commonly added to consumer products, including detergents, medical products and devices, shampoos, cosmetics, paper coatings, and textiles. Although most siloxanes disperse into the atmosphere where they are decomposed, some end up in wastewater (approximately 17,000 tons per year in the US).  Siloxanes do not decompose in the activated sludge process, but generally end up as a significant component in the sludge.

As sludge undergoes anaerobic digestion, it may be subjected to temperatures up to 60 C. At this point the siloxanes contained in the sludge will volatize and become an unwanted constituent of the resulting biogas.

List of Siloxane Removal Options

The author has provided the folloing list of methods for siloxane removal:

Currently, there are six primary technologies for removing siloxanes from biogas. These include the following:

–Activated carbon is widely used to remove organic substances from gases and liquids due to its superior adsorbent properties. An example of a product based on this technology is SAGPack from Applied Filter Technology.

–Activated alumina absorbs siloxanes from biogas. When the alumina becomes saturated, its absorption capability can be recovered by passing a regeneration gas through it.

–Refrigeration with condensation in combination can be used to selectively remove specific compounds by lowering the temperature or pressure of the gas, and then allowing the compound to precipitate out to a liquid, and then settle out.

–Synthetic resins remove VMS’s through adsorption. They can be specially formulated to remove specific classes of compounds.

–Liquid absorbents are used by a small number of landfill operators to treat biogas prior to use in combustion devices such as gas turbines. An example of a product based on this technology is Selexol from Dow Chemical.

–Membrane technology is a relatively recent development in siloxanes removal. At present, however, membranes are subject to acid deterioration from the acidic content usually found in raw biogas.

Of these technologies, activated carbon appears to be among the most dominant in the industry. This material can be purchased relatively cheaply, for less than $1 per pound when purchased in bulk form.

Although there are a number of options available for cleaning contaminants such as siloxanes from biogas, none has yet proven to be “ideal.” Therefore there is active interest in the development of new and better technologies for cleaning biogas.

It appears that siloxanes comprise a very significant problem for the production and use of biogas. End users are demanding efficacy, and they also require ease of use in terms of being able to drop the technology into existing biogas treatment processes without significant re-engineering. End users also demand adaptability to accommodate the varying nature of biogas streams and the various types and amounts of contaminants that need to be treated. And of course, as always users are looking for the most cost-effective options.

A technology that can satisfy these criteria appears well-positioned to be readily introduced and adopted into this market, and in turn could help biogas achieve its full potential as an important component of the worldwide energy mix.

View the original article here

Forget Solar: The Energy Breakthrough That Could Provide 10% of US Electricity

That headline is very much the essence of the big wake-up call issued by a US investment analyst this month. Yes. At last, the financial community is beginning to see the huge potential for energy from waste in the US, and because they are such big waste producers, it IS an enormous new investment area for investors to consider.

As they point out, there is "low hanging fruit" in the US as well, in the form of landfill gas extraction from existing and propose landfills.

The size of the opportunity for those wishing to invest in landfill gas can be seen, and is undisputable if their figure of only 1 in 5.7 landfills being equipped for LFG extraction and energy production is correct - and we have no reason to doubt it.

That opportunity has long since passed in Europe, but the US is wide open for new landfill gas projects. If the sites are remote from a big enough power line, then no longer is that a problem with the biogas upgrading equipment now available.

This means that the gas coan be cleaned up and used for vehicle use or injected into gas grid mains, and many can use it to run the refuse vehicles for a start, with plenty left over.

Please visit the original website via the link below, after you have read the excerpt below:

Today, I want to tell you about a true game changer in the energy industry. Up until a few years ago, this initiative would have seemed almost impossible. It would have been the subject of sci-fi movies. But don't worry, what I'm about to tell you is very real. In the past five years alone, some of the world's leading businesses have poured more than $18.2 billion into this unique idea.  I'm talking about turning trash into energy.

 Here's the story... According to Waste Management (NYSE: WM), the average person generates roughly four pounds of trash a day. That adds up to 227.5 million tons of "municipal solid waste" every year, enough to fill a line of trash trucks nearly 100,000 miles long, which would circle the Earth four times.

All of that trash has a pretty predictable profile. As the chart below shows, a good portion of it is recyclable: The glass, plastic and metal can all be reused.

But the majority of trash is organic material: Wood, food, yard waste and paper account for 62.5% of the trash Americans toss out. This adds up to 142.2 million tons of rotting material every year, just in the United States.

As much of that organic waste decomposes in the landfill, it emits gas... quite a lot of it too. Made up of about 60% methane, landfill gas is combustible. Enough so to create high-pressure steam that spins turbines to generate electric power in exactly the same way utilities burn natural gas.

Right now, there are more than 540 landfill gas-to-energy projects in the United States. Those projects are delivering 1,684 megawatts of electricity to corporate and government users, which is enough energy to power 1.7 million homes.

With only one landfill-gas site for every 5.7 active landfills, there is room for serious growth. Those untapped landfills are like having open wells bleeding gas into the air, where it vanishes, instead of into a pipeline, where it can be sold.

There are many companies out there that see that waste, yearn to harness that energy and might well make a fortune in the process. That's one reason market intelligence firm Pike Research expects this industry to at least double worldwide in the next decade.

The American Biogas Council estimates there are 12,000 undeveloped biogas sites in the wastewater (3,300), agriculture (8,200) and landfill (500) sectors. Using the energy created from these sites, biogas could replace up to 10% of the United States' electricity needs. We are, after all, already "making" all this gas. The opportunity lies in capturing and harnessing its power.

Right now, one of my favorite plays in this space is Tetra Technologies (Nasdaq: TTEK), a massive engineering firm that is always on the cusp of "the next big thing." That's one reason it has, in its history, delivered fully four times the Nasdaq's return.

As a member of the America Biogas Council, Tetra Tech is one of the few companies with the expertise and ability to build a commercial-scale turnkey biogas facility.

The company is also solidly profitable and well-run, as evidenced by its strong historical growth in equity. And, with a $1.73 billion market cap, it still has plenty of space to grow -- or the potential to be acquired at a substantial premium.

View the original article here

First Wiltshire Biodigester Opens for Business

Wiltshire’s first anaerobic digestion plant plant operated by Malaby Biogas, has opened for business. The first feed materials have fed into a new biodigester in Wiltshire, UK, after only 12 months of construction and commissioning trails.  The biodigester is Wiltshire’s first large scale biogas plant, which became viable when it's promoter it was able to get £5 million ($7.7 million) in loan funding from Clydesdale Bank and the UK government's own WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme), joined in with financial assistance as part of the government’s own £10 million loan fund for biogas and CHP projects.

We have provided a quotation from the full article below. At the end of the extract we have provided a link to the full article, and we suggest that you use that to visit the original web site:

The plant will look to process 17,000 tonnes of food waste a year and produce around 500KW of electricity for the national grid. It will receive bulk feedstock from both commercial and municipal sources, including local businesses like schools, pubs and restaurants.

Minter believes it will take up to six months to get the plant up to full speed based on biology growth and the completion of operational milestones: ‘It is important that we build a stable and robust process to ensure this is one of the best running plants around.’

View the original article here