11 February 2011

Farmgen applies for latest anaerobic digestion plant - Place North West (subscription)

9 Feb 2011, 17:23
Lancashire-based energy-from-crops company Farmgen has revealed plans for its second facility in Cumbria.
The company, which has embarked on a £30m investment drive nationwide, has applied to Carlisle City Council for permission to create the farm-based anaerobic digestion plant at Murray House Farm in Cumwhinton.

Its team has been working for some time on the plan with Peter Bainbridge and his father, Peter, who both farm at Murray House and the application has been submitted to build a plant that can generate up to 1.2MW of electricity.

Crops used at the £3m plant would be supplied by the Bainbridges, who organise the popular annual Cumwhinton horse trials, and neighbouring farmers.

Building work has already started on Farmgen's first AD plant in Cumbria at Dryholme Farm, near Silloth. Dryholme and Farmgen's inaugural plant at Carr Farm in Warton, near Preston, Lancashire, are both scheduled to be up and running this year. Once in operation, they will each generate enough continuous power for more than 1,000 homes and will provide a significant boost to their rural economies.

Ed Cattigan, chief operating officer at Farmgen, said: "The application we have submitted for Murray House underlines our great belief in the huge potential that exists for farm-based AD in Cumbria.

"As the country moves over to 'green' energy, as part of the drive towards a low carbon economy, there is a strong opportunity for many farmers across the county to create a sustainable and stronger future for themselves by switching to 'energy farming'.

"We are in talks with a number of other farming operations across Cumbria and in other parts of the UK to create similar plants and we are hoping to reveal more planned sites in the very near future."

Farmgen has organised an open day at Murray House Farm on Thursday 17 February, between 11am and 3pm, so interested farmers and the local community can see and discuss the plans for the plant.

For more details call 01253 600 800.

View the original article here

10 February 2011

New market opportunities in anaerobic digestion highlighted - Industry Today (press release)

Supply chain opportunties in the sector anaerobic digestion were highlighted at a recent event hosted by RENEW and MAS North East.


Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday


Over eighty delegates from the North East turned out last week to an event to highlight huge opportunities within anaerobic digestion (AD) supply chains.


The event, organised by RENEW and MAS North East, held at Durham County Cricket Club, was designed to give North East businesses an introduction to the anaerobic digestion process and opportunities across the whole of the UK. Businesses that attended were able to find out about the technology, where the opportunities exist and how they can access the market.


The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association predicts that 1,000 anaerobic digestion biogas plants will be built in the next five years at a cost of £5 billion, mostly funded by the private sector. Fifty-four plants are already operational across the country with another 50 in the planning stage and businesses in the region were encouraged to explore the potential and take advantage of current opportunities.


Peter Walsh, Energy Manager, RENEW said: "There was an excellent turnout at the event, far more than expected which shows the level of interest in Anaerobic Digestion from businesses in the region. It's good to see this interest from manufacturers wanting to get involved and take forward the information to make the most of the huge opportunities in the region."


"There is lots of support out there for suppliers, manufacturers and plant projects including a number of networks such as the REA (Renewable Energy Association), ADBA (Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association) and the EEIF (Energy and Environmental Industries Forum). I would encourage anyone who is interested in Anaerobic Digestion to get involved in these networks and get onto the suppliers and projects list soon, as I'm sure event like this will be taking place across the country as businesses look to move into this renewable energy sector."


RENEW facilitates and delivers commercial energy and environmental technology projects across North East England and is committed to ensuring the region is at the forefront of the UK's low carbon sustainable energy drive. Working with businesses, communities, investors, regulators and technology suppliers, RENEW helps low carbon energy and environmental technology projects make the transition from development to the marketplace.


Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) North East, who co-hosted the event, play a vital role in helping UK manufacturers to share knowledge, improve productivity and achieve success in an increasingly competitive global economy.


Simon Taylor, Principal Consultant, MAS North East said: "The attendance was excellent, demonstrating the high regional interest in this emerging business area. Feedback from the delegates indicated that the information presented by the speakers was very good and several delegates requested follow up from both MAS North East and RENEW. All in all a very successful event."


The event was based around ten speakers who focused on varying specialties in their fields of expertise and the Government's Renewable Obligation and Feed in Tariff schemes were highlighted by various speakers to support the payback timeframe of plants.


Lucy Hopwood, Head of Biogas and Feedstock, National Non Food Crop Centre, who gave a speech on AD market opportunities said: "We are currently way behind many of our EU counterparts when it comes to AD - it's embarrassing really. There are two main opportunities; either farm-scale, self-sufficient in feedstock, or commercial scale handling external feedstock such as food waste. We currently have just 32 farm-based plants and 22 commercial plants in the UK , some way off the aspiration for 1,000 and 200 respectively by 2020. We can't sit around and wait for this to happen, we need to act now."


The other speakers at the event included Graham Hillier (CPI), Kevin Quigley (Emerald Biogas), Sally Johnson (Northern Biogas), Graham Humphries (CPI), Richard Gueterbock (Clearfleau), Steve Scott (Xebec) and Iain Ward (CNG Services).


Further information about potential Anaerobic Digestion opportunities can be discussed with Peter Walsh at RENEW on 01642 442493


Contact Information


Christina Pounder
Velvet Communications
Wynyard Park House
Wynyard
TS22 5TB

Industry Today was developed by Simply Marcomms (SMPR) Online B2B PR services. Visit www.industrytoday.co.uk to publish and distribute news from your Industry. Optimised press releases now appear in Google News.


View the original article here

OFT investigates anaerobic digestion opportunity - ShareCast

LONDON (SHARECAST) - The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is investigating the market for the treatment of organic waste in order to assess whether there are appropriate incentives for technologies such as anaerobic digestion.

It is government policy to encourage the generation of energy from waste through anaerobic digestion, which is a process where microbes break down the waste and turn it into biogas.




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The above video is not be associated with the authors of this article.


There are three main sources of organic waste, sewage, household food waste and the waste from food factories and farms.


The study will assess whether price regulation of sewage sludge treatment is still appropriate and whether there is scope for more competition. The OFT will also assess if there are any barriers to efficient investment in co-treatment plants where waste from different sources is treated in one facility.


The OFT will also try to identify what can be done to encourage investment in anaerobic digestion and other technologies.


Water firms, such as United Utilities and Northumbrian Water, have been building anaerobic digestion facilities. Northumbrian is generating part of its own power requirements from one such plant and another is planned.


Shanks Group is starting construction of its second anaerobic digestionfacility, which will be based in Buckinghamshire. The £11m facility will generate up to 2MW of electricity. Shanks is seeking planning permission for a third facility in east London.


AIM-quoted TEG Group is also involved in building plants that combine its own composting technology with anaerobic digestion facilities. Alkane Energy has linked up with TEG to provide its expertise in turning the gas produced into power. Ireland-based Kedco also intends to use German technology to build anaerobic digestion plants in the UK.


AIM-quoted Pressure Technologies, which makes seamless steel gas cylinders, set up a new business in November 2008 to sell Greenlane? equipment that can be used in anaerobic digestion plants. It will be a beneficiary of increased investment in this area.


The OFT study is expected to last six months and be completed in July. The recommendations can then be taken into account in water regulator Ofwat?s review of economic regulation in the water and sewerage sector.


View the original article here

09 February 2011

New market opportunities in anaerobic digestion highlighted - Industry Today

Supply chain opportunties in the sector anaerobic digestion were highlighted at a recent event hosted by RENEW and MAS North East.

Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday
 
Over eighty delegates from the North East turned out last week to an event to highlight huge opportunities within anaerobic digestion (AD) supply chains.

The event, organised by RENEW and MAS North East, held at Durham County Cricket Club, was designed to give North East businesses an introduction to the anaerobic digestion process and opportunities across the whole of the UK. Businesses that attended were able to find out about the technology, where the opportunities exist and how they can access the market.

The Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association predicts that 1,000 anaerobic digestion biogas plants will be built in the next five years at a cost of £5 billion, mostly funded by the private sector. Fifty-four plants are already operational across the country with another 50 in the planning stage and businesses in the region were encouraged to explore the potential and take advantage of current opportunities.

Peter Walsh, Energy Manager, RENEW said: "There was an excellent turnout at the event, far more than expected which shows the level of interest in Anaerobic Digestion from businesses in the region. It's good to see this interest from manufacturers wanting to get involved and take forward the information to make the most of the huge opportunities in the region."

"There is lots of support out there for suppliers, manufacturers and plant projects including a number of networks such as the REA (Renewable Energy Association), ADBA (Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association) and the EEIF (Energy and Environmental Industries Forum). I would encourage anyone who is interested in Anaerobic Digestion to get involved in these networks and get onto the suppliers and projects list soon, as I'm sure event like this will be taking place across the country as businesses look to move into this renewable energy sector."

RENEW facilitates and delivers commercial energy and environmental technology projects across North East England and is committed to ensuring the region is at the forefront of the UK's low carbon sustainable energy drive. Working with businesses, communities, investors, regulators and technology suppliers, RENEW helps low carbon energy and environmental technology projects make the transition from development to the marketplace.

Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) North East, who co-hosted the event, play a vital role in helping UK manufacturers to share knowledge, improve productivity and achieve success in an increasingly competitive global economy.

Simon Taylor, Principal Consultant, MAS North East said: "The attendance was excellent, demonstrating the high regional interest in this emerging business area. Feedback from the delegates indicated that the information presented by the speakers was very good and several delegates requested follow up from both MAS North East and RENEW. All in all a very successful event."

The event was based around ten speakers who focused on varying specialties in their fields of expertise and the Government's Renewable Obligation and Feed in Tariff schemes were highlighted by various speakers to support the payback timeframe of plants.

Lucy Hopwood, Head of Biogas and Feedstock, National Non Food Crop Centre, who gave a speech on AD market opportunities said: "We are currently way behind many of our EU counterparts when it comes to AD - it's embarrassing really. There are two main opportunities; either farm-scale, self-sufficient in feedstock, or commercial scale handling external feedstock such as food waste. We currently have just 32 farm-based plants and 22 commercial plants in the UK , some way off the aspiration for 1,000 and 200 respectively by 2020. We can't sit around and wait for this to happen, we need to act now."

The other speakers at the event included Graham Hillier (CPI), Kevin Quigley (Emerald Biogas), Sally Johnson (Northern Biogas), Graham Humphries (CPI), Richard Gueterbock (Clearfleau), Steve Scott (Xebec) and Iain Ward (CNG Services).

View the original article here

Anaerobic digestion FiT review welcomed - The Low Carbon Economy (blog)

The government's decision to review the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) payments for farm-based anaerobic digestion (AD) has been welcomed by members of the industry.

Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne announced this week the government would be conducting a review into the initiative due to concerns that large-scale solar farms could receive payments intended for homeowners and small businesses.

Research into farm-based AD will take place alongside the study to see if the current payments make generation "worthwhile", following lower-than-expected installations. Just two applications for AD projects have been received, compared to the six anticipated.

The Country, Land and Business Association (CLA) has been calling for the payments to be reviewed since the FiT scheme was first announced in February 2010.

William Worsley, president of the CLA, said: "Our work with the government on the AD action plan will support increased payments by reducing red tape. We will be working further with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to determine the right level of FiT payments to ensure that on-farm AD flourishes."
View the original article here

Small Scale Anaerobic Digestion to Boost Biogas Markets - Waste Management World

Small scale, distributed anaerobic digestion plants could offer an environmentally and economically stable solution for locally produced biogas.

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The above video is not associated with the text but we thought it would be of interest.

In Germany government incentives have led to the development of over 6000 anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities, generating twice as much power as all of the country's waste to energy facilities combined.

However many of these are large scale, 1 MW plus facilities, and the proliferation of such plants has affected both tipping fees for food waste - which have fallen from between Eur 60 to 80 per tonne down to Eur 10 to 20 per tonne - and biocrop prices to such an extent as to put many at risk of becoming economically unviable.

According to Craig Benton of Composting and Recycling Consultants, mini-biogas facilities could offer the ideal solution for farm waste.

Speaking at the Energy from Biomass and Waste Conference in London today, Benton claimed that most vendors of anaerobic digestion and biogas equipment offer systems starting at around 250 kW. In most farm applications, such systems lead to a dependence on importing feedstocks from the surrounding area which can be economically risky.

However, Benton claimed that a new system from Austrian firm, Bio4gas could offer the ideal solution. Available in two sizes - 20/25 kW and 50 kW - the system enables farmers to use animal slurry from their own farm to generate heat, power and digestate.

At the heart of the product is the patented 'Thermal Gas Lift' - a passive mixing system that Benton said offers reduced energy consumption through the use of gas pressure to force the slurry mixture through holes in the bottom.

The smaller of the two systems features a 220 cubic metre tank that is dug into the ground and holds 180 cubic metres of material. In addition a double chamber digester produces more biogas than a single tank.
According to Benton the advantages offered by a more distributed approach to biogas are significant, with potential returns on investment ranging between 12.5% and 16.4% based on conservative figures.

Benton added that small scale biogas production could free the operator from the "whims of the market", insulating them from rising biocrop prices and the prospect of falling tipping fees.

Additionally, as all of the feedstock is sourced from the host farm itself, the digestate can be used to fertilise the farmer's own land with no solid waste permit or license is required.


View the original article here

08 February 2011

Gas Data will be at Energy Now Expo Stand M2 16th & 17th February, Malvern Showground, United Kingdom

At this years Energy Now Expo Gas Data will be showcasing their range of portable and fixed instrumentation from a one gas portable analyser to a multi-gas modular fixed site system for use in biogas, landfill, remedial work and many more applications. Gas Data are also offering all visitors to their stand (M2) the chance to be entered into a free prize draw to win hire of the latest gas monitoring equipment!

With the current emphasis on renewable energy Gas Data are playing a key role by providing a solution for monitoring the gases produced by Anaerobic Digesters (AD). The precise monitoring of the gas quality and quantity produced by AD units is crucial and has two major benefits. Firstly, the user can optimise the use of feed materials and therefore maximise revenue and secondly, the H2S (hydrogen sulphide) in the gas entering the engine causing corrosion and shortened life of the engine can be monitored before damaging levels are reached. By installing a Gas Data fixed site Click! System or using a portable analyser the GFM416, the gas can be monitored and the effects both controlled and minimised. 

Both of these instruments will be on show by Gas Data at Stand M2, Energy Now Expo 2011 and will be demonstrated to show the importance and benefits of monitoring the gas produced.

Modular fixed site Click! system for on-line biogas monitoring

06 February 2011

Updated Biogas from Waste and Renewable Resources with New Sections Added



This highly informative and authoritative volume, provides a practical introduction to biogas plant design and operation, the author covers both the biological and technical aspects of biogas generation by anaerobic digestion.

The full range of biogas substrates and processing methods are explained, from agricultural and industrial waste to marine algae and sediment. On-site use of biogas for conversion into electricity, fuel and heat is also discussed, as are safety and regulatory issues.

The authors have used dozens of real-life examples of European biogas plants already in operation to illustrate the contents, and there are also many schemes, diagrams and summary tables to aid presentation of this high value information

For this new edition, the authors have included the recent advances in the processing of biomass that now allow a greater range of substrates to be used.

They have also extended the biogas analytics sections, and included sections on the quality control required for feeding biogas into natural gas networks.

There is also a completely new chapter on the microbiology of biogas-producing bacterial communities.

Essential reading for all those about to make an investment in anaerobic digestion plants.

Price: $155.00

Click here for more information from Amazon

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