Posts Tagged ‘biogas’

SAB Miller Uses Brewery Waste from Alrode Brewery in South Africa to Reduce Carbon Footprint

SAB Miller, South African grown, second largest brewer in the world has introduced anaerobic digestion to treat the waste leaving its Alrode Brewery in Gauteng, South Africa. Anaerobic fermentation of organic material produces methane, which is used to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel based energy.

Trappist Brewhouse

Copper brewhouse in a Trappist brewery

Brewery Waste & Biogas

In the brewery the waste is a collection of unavoidable losses of carbohydrate and protein rich materials, which would otherwise be sold as beer or byproduct and the large quantities of water used to maintain a hygienic operation.

Lesedi Biogas to Build $15m Manure-to-Power Plant in Heidelberg, South Africa.

Anaerobic LagoonsDairy farm anaerobic lagoons without covers

The first large scale biogas plant linked to a beef feedlot, could make a more significant contribution to renewable energy in South Africa than the planned 3.8 MW of electricity, by advancing the technology in South Africa.

The Business

Independent power producer (IPP) Lesedi Biogas Project (LBP) is planning to build one of the world’s largest open-air feedlot manure-to-power plants, in Heidelberg, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Such plants use the anaerobic fermentation (bacterial fermentation of organic waste, with little or no oxygen present) to produce a methane rich gas which can be used to produce electricity or burn for heat.

The plant will be situated at the Karan Beef feedlot, which will supply the manure from its feedlot to the LBP. This would initially amount to 110,000 tons per year of manure, which would allow the production of 3,8 MW of base-load power reaching 6,2 MW of peak power.

7 Odd Food-for-Fuel Solutions

Using food as a resource in biofuel production is one of the biggest mistakes our country could make. And while we all shake our heads at the idea of corn ethanol…what about using turkey innards? Or Mountain Dew for that matter.

Shaq Wants Your Leftover Beer and Wine for Making Ethanol

First, who ever has leftover alcohol except maybe these guys? The Shaq-backed MicroFueler is a 250-gallon tank for organic feedstock, such as waste wine and beer, that converts it into pure ethanol. It also doubles as a fuel pump and the only waste product is distilled water.

Save the Earth Science Experiments: Book Review

“The Experiment- How do environmental conditions affect the amount of biogas produced?” If you are homeschooling like I am, entering a science fair or simply looking for a fun way to teach your children about our impact on this planet then Save the Earth Science Experiments, Science Fair Projects for Eco-Kids by Elizabeth Snoke Harris is the book for you.

This fun book (which I purchased through a Scholastic flier) is filled with experiments to get you thinking (and by YOU I do mean parents as well as the kids).   The book begins with an introduction on problems occurring in the world which impact our global well being.   It is then followed by a section on how to put together an effective Science Fair Project and more than 20 experiments that are related to our current environmental concerns.  Throughout the book, you will find short stories and facts which detail a concern or in “The High Price of Ethanol” points out that a solution (biofuels) we think is better, is actually just as damaging.

San Jose Inches Closer to Reaching Goal of 100 Percent Energy Independence

Achieving a goal of 100 percent energy independence is a little closer for San Jose thanks to a momentous move by the City Council today. The City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop potential lease terms and guidelines for developing an organics-to energy bio-gas facility.

15 Year Old Invents Complete Algae Energy System

15 year old Javier Fernández-Han invented a truly innovative solution to meeting the basic needs of many of the world’s poor, and won Ashoka’s Invent Your World Challenge with his algae energy system, called VERSATILE. His holistic approach uses an efficient, modular system to meet multiple needs.

“An invention that is narrowly focused on solving a single problem often inadvertently creates more problems because nature is highly complex and interconnected.” - Javier Fernandez-Han

The Missing Link: Chains Are a Smart Move for Tyrolean Food Waste Recycler

New food waste shredder uses chains to boost efficiency.If the experience of one Tyrolean farm in the village of Schlitters, Austria is any indication, food waste recycling is in for a big step up.  The farm just added a biogas plant to its operations, using a new design that can boost methane yields from biogas by 30%.  The secret?  That’s where the missing link comes in.

New Biogas Effort Launched in Manure Wars

Pigs and other farm animals produce greenhouse gassesWhen it comes to methane gas emissions and the impact on global warming, one’s thoughts naturally turn to the barrage of untreated manure unleashed by factory farms.  Methane is also an issue for small farms, especially the growing number of start-ups with little spare cash to invest in equipment.  To the rescue: a new breakthrough in biogas treatment that promises to pour some much needed cold water on methane emissions from factory farms, while giving the small-farm sector a chance to have their cake and eat it, too.

“Poop Humour” Counterproductive to Biogas Technology

The biogas process, which produces fuel from animal and human waste, is prompting many supposedly amusing posts that could have a negative effect. Googling “biogas and poop” gives 12 800 hits including The Power of Poop, California Cow Poop Power and Turning Cow Poop into Car Power. This is counter productive as it distracts from the potential that biogas holds for both developing and developed countries.

Bacteria

Besides the comical slant of the titles, it is surprising that biogas is often presented as something amazing & unknown although it has been around for hundreds of years, is used in tens of millions of rural household and is a significant contributor to Europe’s renewable energy production.

Biogas - Amazing Natural Technology

The fermentation of organic material such as biomass, manure, sewage, farm waste, municipal waste, green waste and energy crops in the absence of air produces biogas. The same anaerobic fermentation produces swamp, marsh and landfill methane.

City to Pipe Biogas from Farms to Power Recycling Plant

After years of debate and planning, the St. Paul, MN city council has voted unanimously to move forward with a unique plan to produce biogas from manure and ethanol waste in rural farms and pump it miles to power an enormous paper recycling plant.

The energy-efficiency of recycling paper is not the best, so this plan is a welcome alternative-fuel twist to the standard process.

Zoo’s Poo Could Fuel a New Toronto Biogas Facility

The Toronto Zoo says their 5,000 animals produce enough dung to easily cover the costs of the proposed $13 million biogas-to-power facility within five years.

The plant would produce enough electricity for not only the zoo, but thousands of Toronto households. Similar operations that convert farm animal and human waste into biogas are already in place across the world.

But where does a zoo come up with $13 million dollars?

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