02 April 2011

Anaerobic digestion biomethane must be integrated into UK National Grid

Guttridge  Feed Source - Biomethane produced during the anaerobic digestion process should be integrated into the National Grid energy supply, according to an industry expert.


This would encourage the best use of biogas for meeting the UK's renewable energy targets, notes the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association (ADBA) chairman, Lord Rupert Redesdale.


Welcoming the Department of Energy and Climate Change Renewable Heat Incentive, he indicated that it is a "huge vote of confidence" for the industry.

He noted: "The decision underlines ministers' commitment to AD [anaerobic digestion], and has obviously involved a lot of complex work from civil servants to bring it to fruition."


However, he urged the government to consider increasing energy from waste through anaerobic digestion, which was promised following the formation of the coalition.


ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton added that upgrading biogas to biomethane for grid injection is the "best way to maximise the contribution of the AD industry to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and addressing energy security issues".


Typical Guttridge equipment used in the anaerobic digestion industry includes; Conveyors etc


by James Smith


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01 April 2011

Anaerobic Digestion Facility Goes On-line in Vietnam - Waste Management World

15 March 2011

Anaerobic Digestion tank supplier, Kirk Environmental, has completed a 1.2 MW turnkey infrastructure project in for the San Miguel Corporation - South East Asia?s largest beverage, food and packaging company - in Vietnam.


Working in partnership with the Malaysian based subsidiary company Biodome Asia and Filipino Client Sure Inc, the San Miguel Corporation Plant will be producing biogas in a matter of weeks, and be self sufficient in power.


The recently completed facility utilises San Miguel's waste, combined with slurry from 15,000 sow hogs located on the Binh Duong farm to produce biogas which is captured in top mounted Biodome gas holders located on two of the four glass coated steel tanks constructed at the site.


The collected gas is then converted into electricity which will be used to power the whole facility.


The waste water which is produced on site will also be treated to wash and clean the facility and livestock on a daily basis and then further recycled back into the digesters.


Kirk Environmental says that this solution enables San Miguel to utilise the waste produced on site as a renewable energy source, which has previously incurred costs for disposal as well as limit the bad smell issue into the nearby environment.


Kirk Environmental and Biodome Asia are also nearing completion of the San Miguel Sumilao Farm Project in Bukidnon, Philippines as well as developing projects around the world.



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Anaerobic Digestion sector slams feed-in tariff review - Business Green

It was meant to be the one part of the government's fast-track review of feed-in tariffs that would prove uncontroversial.


After today proposing deep cuts to the level of support for large solar installations, the government also announced increases to the incentives available to anaerobic digestion  (AD) technologies as part of an effort to accelerate adoption of the waste-to-energy technology.  


However, businesses have accused the government of failing to understand the full economic requirements of anaerobic digestion technology and proposing inadequate levels of incentives for AD systems. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has launched a consultation proposing increased incentives for AD plants, arguing that only two AD plants have been accredited for feed-in tariffs to date.


Under the current feed-in tariff scheme, all AD power plants with a capacity of up to 500kW will receive 12.1p/kWh from 1 April, while plants with a capacity of between 500kW and 5MW will receive 9p per kWh. However, the consultation proposes changing the banding and increasing the incentives, so smaller plants capable of producing up to 250kW will receive 14p per kWh, while medium-sized plants capable of producing between 250kW and 500kW will receive 13p per kWh. Plants with a capacity of more than 500kw will see their feed-in tariffs remain unchanged at 9p per kwh. 


But industry groups have now warned the proposed rates will fail to encourage businesses to install AD plants and will do little to boost investor confidence.


Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association, said DECC's key aim of boosting "farm-scale" waste-to-energy plants would not be acheived with the proposed rate of incentives. She told BusinessGreen that AD plants that process waste also require expensive pre-treatment facilities, which can cost as much as the power-generating technology. Therefore, she argued it would not be economically viable for a business to install a waste-to-energy plant smaller than 1MW.


Meanwhile, plants with more than 1MW capacity will not see their incentives increase under the proposals, prompting Morton to predict the changes will fail to boost adoption of AD systems of any size.


She accused the government of developing "completely inconsistent" policy and said it has misunderstood how AD can work on a small scale. "The band rates are not really going to please anybody, and we're also not clear about what the government is trying to achieve," she said. She also urged DECC to set specific dates for when the tariffs would be decreased in order to provide potential investors with certainty.


Her comments were echoed by the Renewable Energy Association's chief executive Gaynor Hartnell, who described the tariff changes as "meagre" and unlikely to prompt much of an increase in small-scale AD.


"That's a missed opportunity, as methane emissions from agriculture can be reduced by on-farm biogas plants," she said, adding that government's concern over energy crops "is totally misplaced".


Simon Rigby, non-executive director of AD specialist Farmgen, was similarly disappointed with the proposals. The company builds 1MW plants, but had also been considering selling 500kva and 250kva units. However, he said the review of feed-in tariffs would not make these smaller systems economically viable.


"We were hoping for a decent platform for on farm AD, but the review is so marginal I cannot see it achieving the government's objective to balance the feed-in tariffs, and therefore will not affect the take-up," he said. "If anything, the change sets back our plans as it is so marginal and does not apply to economic plants [of 1MW or more], and will therefore knock confidence in on-farm AD even further."


View the original article here

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