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Biogas innovations are attracting increasing interest
The resource is there – waste
transfer stations and landfill sites close to communities.
Australia’s urban centres generate some 9.5 million tonnes of organic waste
each year according to
Carbon Partners John Chiodo.
Some Australian operators have been in the game since the 1990s, and the
pace is now hotting up with new initiatives around the world.
Biogas (or anaerobic digestion) technology can convert various organic waste
streams, including food wastes, lawn-clippings and animal manures, to a
methane-rich gas which can be used to generate electricity.
Potential to deliver many cost effective benefits includes:
• across the board greenhouse gas emission reductions with significant
increase in base load renewable energy generation
• significant investment and modernisation of electricity infrastructure,
moving towards a more robust and distributed model of electricity generation
and supply
• providing new municipal waste processing capacity, moving beyond
landfill/composting solutions to more sustainable outcomes
• improved farm water, waste, nutrient and soil carbon management practices
and countering rising farm energy and fertilizer costs
• diversified farm revenue and a more productive, vibrant and drought
tolerant industry with regional economic and employment growth
Energy Developments Ltd (EDL) has been in the area for over a decade,
developing a process based on a pattern of vertical gas production wells
across a landfill area, linked by underground piping to a central gas
collection facility. Processed gas is used in either gas engine or gas
turbine generator sets, and the electricity sold into the grid.
EDL has projects in operation and under development in Australia, the United
Kingdom, Greece, France, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States of
America and has become a world leader in the industry. See
www.energydevelopments.com.au
Carbon Partners was established to introduce advanced biogas technology into
Australia. “This technology has been extensively deployed in Germany and
across Europe and has ready application in Australia right now” says John
Chiodo, Carbon Partners Project Implementation Manager.
Carbon
Partners’ new flagship project is the Renewable Energy Dandenong (RED)
Project to be located South-Eastern Melbourne – pictured.
This plant will have capacity to process 140,000 tonnes of organic waste per
annum and generate enough baseload renewable electricity to supply 8,000
average households each year. Key features include:
• thermal waste pre-treatment step that guarantees the process and
end-product biosecurity
• robust and self-regulating digester design that achieves high-energy
yields from input waste material
• highly energy efficient design which enables export of at least 85% of
generation capacity
• it generates a stabilised, nutrient and carbon rich organic fertilizer
product; and
• has a proven operating track record with numerous facilities in Europe,
some of which have been operating for over 25 years.
Preliminary designs of the facility are complete, EPA and town planning
approvals have been secured and the project is essentially “construction
ready”.
Significant barriers to implementing the RED Project remain, including the
need to consolidate sufficient waste streams to support a project of this
scale. Carbon Partners is also pursing several smaller scale opportunities
in the agriculture sector.
See
www.carbonpartners.net
There is also action in the west, with Perth based
AnaeCo delivering
Alternative Waste Technology (AWT) facilities based on the patented DiCOM
bioconversion process. This incorporates advanced sorting, recycling,
anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting to recycle municipal solid waste
(MSW) into renewable energy from biogas, agricultural grade compost and
recyclables such as steel, aluminum, glass and plastics, thus ensuring
maximum diversion from landfill.
The DiCOM process enables resource recovery closer to source, with
enhancement of existing waste transfer stations a viable option. AnaeCo
provides design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance
services, as well as management of all outputs including renewable energy,
compost, recyclable materials and non-recyclable residuals.
See
www.anaeco.com
Germany is a clear biogas technology leader, with a range of progressive
policies and rapid and widespread investment in regionally dispersed biogas
facilities. Some remarkable results include:
•
installation of over 3,700 biogas facilities treating municipal &
agricultural wastes mostly in regional areas
• almost 900 MW of base load renewable generation capacity installed in the
three years to 2007
• regional economic investment of at least €650 million per annum and the
creation of over 8,000 jobs
• creation of an entirely new biogas services industry with rapidly growing
export revenue.
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