23 January 2008

Bluster and Biofuels - The Biofuels Con?

We thought that you might be interested in this investor's view on Biofuels and the Audit Committe report. I am sure Gary won't object to our potentially feeding him signups to his report page by printing this!

The Environmental Audit Committee has got it right says Smart Commodities UK editor, Garry White. Biofuels are currently a net negative for the environment...

Bluster and Biofuels
By Garry White

So, could this be the end of the biofuels con..? Let’s hope so…

The all-party Environmental Audit Committee headed by Tim Yeo will today say that the target to more than double the amount of biofuels used in the UK should be scrapped.

Yeo said: “Biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road transport but at present most biofuels have a detrimental impact on the environment overall”.

The committee wants a moratorium on the biofuel targets. They have considered the whole cycle rather than just a part of it. They said that biofuels produced less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels when burned, but these savings are negated by the use of fertilisers, deforestation and the energy needed to process them into fuel. I could not agree more.

There are, however, dissenters form this point of view – notably the National Farmers Union (NFU).

The NFU rejected the committee’s calls for a moratorium.

“Biofuels represent the only renewable alternative for replacing fossil fuels in transport and a way of tackling the one quarter of UK carbon emissions which transport is responsible for” said NFU President, Peter Kendall.

“UK Biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 53% and UK wheat bioethanol by 64% compared with their fossil fuel equivalents.

“Those savings can and should be improved. But for the committee to conclude that, because the savings are small, they are not worth having at all, is illogical and ill-informed.

“Of course, biofuel crops must be produced sustainably, both at home and abroad, and of course we should be developing more efficient biofuel technologies and encouraging motorists to take other measures to reduce transport emissions.

“And to criticise biofuels for using land that could otherwise be growing food when, in virtually the same breath, the Committee calls for land to be taken out of food production and given over to forestry and habitat creation shows just how muddled their thinking is.

“The best thing for the Government to do with this report is to consign it to the dustbin of history and focus instead on the infinitely more balanced and better informed report published by the Royal Society on 14 January 2008.”

The problem with this however, is that the Royal Society fudged the issue. I was at the press conference last week and one thing was made clear before it started; the report was not going to give any clear answers. The chairman said there would be no “yes” or “no” answers to anything, even though he accepted that was what the audience wanted.

This may be regarded as “good science” but when the world is looking for a solution to a major problem, sitting on the fence can do more harm than good. It’s time for people to nail their colours to the mast. I salute the Environmental Audit Committee for doing just this.

Regards,

Garry White
for The Daily Reckoning [Links removed because this page has been deleted from thelinked website.]

The Anaerobic News Blog is always interested to hear your views on the future of biofuels. One good place to post your views is at the Anaerobic Digestion Forum.

22 January 2008

UK Anaerobic Digestion Plants are to Get ROCs Subsidy Boost

BERR ROC Government Response to be included in the Energy Bill

BERR have released the government's response to the Renewables Obligation Consultation, and the proposal is to give Anaerobic Digestion the boost it was hoping for at 2.0 ROCs/MWh.

Their document summarises the responses and sets out the Government's intentions in the light of them. The government is seeking through the Energy Bill to secure the necessary primary legislative powers to make the proposed changes. The detail will be implemented through a new Renewables Obligation Order.

[Sorry. This page has been removed from the Government Website.] More information is here where the BERR pdf can be downloaded in full.

Anaerobic digestion has been placed in what is described as the "emerging" brand, and other technologies are included. Here is an excerpt from BERR's text:-

"Wave; tidal stream; fuels created using an advanced conversion technologies (anaerobic digestion; gasification and pyrolysis); dedicated biomass burning energy crops (with or without CHP); dedicated regular biomass with CHP; solar photovoltaic; geothermal, tidal Impoundment (e.g. tidal lagoons and tidal barrages (<1gw blockquote="" microgeneration.=""> - all get 2.0 ROCs/MWh, starting 1 April 2009.

Sewage gas was seen as an area for substantial increases in Anaerobic Digestion generation capacity, and existing and new anaerobic digesters, future expansion was suggested to be possible up to 0.8 TWh by 2010 by fitting new digesters to sewage treatment works which were not equipped with these at present.

It is all good news for AD, but still not I understand, up to the level of security of price for sale of the electricity given by the German government. Your comments are welcomed!

08 January 2008

Uganda: The Fuel from Human Excreta

New Vision (Kampala) - Africa Uses Anaerobic Digestion

2 January 2008
John Kasozi
Kampala

HUMAN excreta and urine are now an asset to farmers because they are a cheap source of biogas energy. The two offer the best biogas followed by pig and cattle dung.

Banana peels, poultry droppings, water hyacinth and algae are the other organic raw materials that generate biogas. Banana peels and water hyacinth should be mixed with cow dung and poultry droppings to give off good gas after putting them out to dry under the sun for two days to reduce the amount of sap.

Andrew Ndawula, a technician subcontracted by Heifer International Uganda (HIU), revealed this during the recent tour of Heifer biogas beneficiaries by Dr. Sahr Lebbie, the Heifer International vice president of the Africa programme, based in USA.

Heifer International is a worldwide NGO whose mission is to work in partnership with others to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth through sharing livestock and knowledge. Its main goal is to improve food security and the income of needy households, while focusing on the family, gender and environmental protection through sustainable agriculture.

In conjunction with its partners, HIU has initiated the construction of biogas plants among beneficiaries after realising that deforestation is a serious threat to the environment.

"Biogas will slow down the rate of deforestation and its by-products are utilised to improve soil fertility," said Lebbie. He added that biogas also indirectly reduces the burden of women and children fetching firewood from long distances.

Biogas is an inflammable gas produced by bacteria during bio-digestion fermentation of organic materials. This occurs under airless condition in an air tight container called a digester. It is composed of methane gas (60-65%) and carbon dioxide (35-40%). Biogas from animal excreta contains 60-90% methane and is combustible if the methane is more than 50%. In this range, biogas burns without further purification.

"There are three models and different sizes of biogas plants: floating, polythene tubular system and the Chinese fixed dome. "The fixed dome is the most common and economical plant constructed for HIU beneficiaries," said Ndawula.

The smallest size of fixed dome is 6-cubic metres (cu/m), and the largest is 100cu/m. Thirty cu/m and above are for institutions or large farms. The fixed dome is of two types; bricks/blocks type and cast systems. The price of cement, bricks and galvanised pipes put the total cost of the plant high.

The 6 and 8cu/m plants pressure prepares a simple meal in 24 hours if both the cow and plants are well fed and maintained. The digester should not be under- or over-fed by raw materials in order to have constant pressure supply to the house. The 12cu/m plant can be maintained by two or three well fed zero-grazed cows. Gas can light one lamp and a twin-burner for a family of 8-10 people.

However, the 16cu/m plant can be maintained by three to six cows. Its pressure can run three burners and two lamps. People owning animal farms should go for 30cu/m plant. Ten and more cows can sustain the plant that runs about five lamps, a canteen burner (commercial) and a twin-burner. This type of plant has two expansion chambers that maintain constant pressure.

Ndawula noted that 75 to 100cu/m have been built in Kenya and Tanzania by institutions such as universities. "I have approached a number of institutions in Uganda to put up similar plants, but they are skeptical," he added.

In China, Kenya and Tanzania institutions mix human and animal excreta, giving off good grade methane, while some institutions in China make biogas from only human excreta.

Africans are making good use of Anaerobic Digestion

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