Engineer Aga Waqar Kit developed to run vehicles by water

Kit developed to run vehicles by water

MANDI BAHAUDDIN - Aga Waqar, a young scientist, claimed to have developed a kit for running vehicles and generators through water.
This amazing invention has been welcomed by the people belonging to all walks of life. A senior advocate, Afzal, said the technique would bring great revolution in the energy sector if the government managed to produce it on industrial basis.
Major Nasir Javed, the senior vice president of the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Society, said that it was a great development and it must be promoted by the government across the country to end dependence on oil producing countries. The development will not only provide cheaper transport facilities but also save foreign exchange that was spent on import of oil, he added.
“After preparation and successful explosion of bomb, this is the second explosion in the energy sector,” he said and urged the government and public to extend their full support and cooperation to the young engineer to promote the technology. He said “oil mafia” was likely to create hurdle in the way of promoting this technology of water kit as it was in the national interest.  Nasir Mangat Advocate said the engineer should be protected from those whose business would suffer in case of manufacturing water kit at large scale.
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Engineer Aga Waqar Kit developed to run vehicles by water

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AGP holds ceremony for 60 MMgy biodiesel plant in Algona, Iowa

Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) held a ceremony May 17 for its members, celebrating the operation of its newest biodiesel asset, AGP Algona, a 60 MMgy biodiesel production facility in Algona, Iowa.
The plant, formerly East Fork Biodiesel LLC, started up in 2007 and shut down shortly afterwards, remaining idled for years. Enervation Advisors bought the plant in March 2011 and sold it to AGP months later.
John Campbell, senior vice president of renewable fuels for AGP, told Biodiesel Magazine that AGP opened the plant last fall. The facility uses soybean oil feedstock.
AGP’s total biodiesel production capacity is now 120 MMgy.

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News Biogas Plant: Construction of 100 biogas plants in final stages

Biogas Plant: Construction of 100 biogas plants in final stages

Biogas Plant: Construction of 100 biogas plants in final stages

Construction of 100 bio-gas plants is in final stages in various villages of Gujranwala, District Coordination Officer Muhammad Amin Chaudhry said on Friday. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a bio-gas production plant in Benka Cheema village in Gakhar. The DCO said work on 45 plants had been completed. He said gas supply read more

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energy from waste

From waste to energy
Installation of bio-gas plants can help meet shortage of gas in rural areas
By Tahir Ali

Despite huge potential and benefits, biogas technology has not been given due attention in Pakistan. With inflation, energy shortage aggravating with each passing day, there is a renewed interest in the technology as this type of gas can be used both for cooking and power generation and its residue as fertilizer and it can also decrease domestic fuel budget, deforestation and pressure on national power grid. It can also contribute towards sustenance of ecosystem and conservation of biodiversity in the country.

Over 4000 biogas plants were installed in Pakistan by the government between 1974 and 1987. But later, it withdrew the financial support which reduced the growth rate of this technology. Only 6,000 plants were installed till 2006. But the potential is even bigger.

There are currently around 47 million big animals in Pakistan. A medium size animal produces around 10 kg of dung per day. Even if its 50 percent is collected, the availability of dung comes to 233 million kg a day that can produce around 12 million cubic meters of biogas a day. Estimates say since 0.4m gas could suffice the cooking needs of a million Pakistanis, the fuel requirement of over 20 percent of them could be met only from biogas. It will also produce 19 million tons of bio-fertilizer per year, which can boost agricultural productivity.

Biogas plants are popular in Pakistan’s neighbourhood and even developed countries. There are almost two million bio-gas plants in India and the facilities have been built even in UK and US through official patronage. Around 89 such plants in the US are consuming 13 per cent or 95000 tons of waste to produce about 2500 mega watt of electricity that suffices for 2.3mn households.

In Nepal, where around 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas with no electricity, over the past 20 years, the biogas sector partnership, an NGO, has installed around 210,000 biogas plants to provide biogas for cooking and lighting. Each plant is estimated to have reduced Nepal’s carbon emissions by around 4.7 tonnes a year.

According to a United Nations report, cattle are responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming — more than cars, planes, and all other forms of transportation put together. Their environmental impact could be minimised by converting their manure into a renewable source of energy.

The environmental protection agency (EPA) estimates that cattle emit about 5.5 million metric tons of powerful greenhouse gas, methane, per year into the atmosphere. The University of Texas, Austin, estimates that by using around one billion tonnes of manure produced annually in the United States for power/gas generation could also help eliminate 99 million tonnes of net greenhouse gas emissions there.

As per Pakistan Centre for Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) report, a family size biogas plant annually produces energy equivalent to 10056Kg wood, 22200 Kg animal dung, 1104 lit kerosene oil, 540 kg L.P.G or 9000 Kwh of electricity.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa too, despite having one million camels, 6mn cattle, 2mn buffaloes and over 12mn sheep and goats, has failed to utilise the waste of these animals for launching of bio gas plants on a big scale.

In the cattle breeding and dairy farm in Charsadda, a bio gas plant has been in operation but the innovative technology has not been disseminated on a mass scale in the province.

Under the project “development and promotion of biogas technology for meeting domestic fuel needs of rural areas and production of bio-fertilizer”, PCRET plans to install 368 biogas plants in rural areas of the country by June this year.  

The government of Italy in November last year decided to provide Rs50 million to set up 436 biogas plants in six districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Haripur and Mansehra.

Launched in 2008 with a target of 2500 such plants, PCRET has already installed over 2100 family size biogas plants in different parts of the country.

Earlier, based on a feasibility study, a programme implementation plan for domestic biogas of Pakistan was finalised with the support of rural support programmes network, NGOs and farmers’ organisations and is implemented by Pakistan biogas development enterprise. The construction of 30,000 biogas installations in 4 years will be supported in four provinces, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a total investment of Rs2.7bn. Rs244mn would be disbursed as investment rebate support to the households who spend on the technology.

However, the potential is too enormous to be satisfied with this number. Animal waste is usually wasted. In Landhi Karachi alone, around 0.35mn cattle-heads are kept in a 3km area that produce thousands of tons of waste but 80-90 of it is thrown in the sea. A Canadian firm Highmark Renewables with the help of KESC plans to establish world’s biggest biogas plant at a cost of around $70 million that would produce up to 30 mega watt of power and 400 tons of residue bio fertiliser.

 

Some more facts

Any farmer having at least three animals can establish this plant with a one-time investment of Rs40,000 to 50,000

Gas produced in a small bio-digester which contains about 20 kg of dung should be enough to meet the fuel requirement of a small family. Based on these calculations, a bio-digester for any number of animals can be designed. However, the plant must be water/gas-tight. Enough manure and water must be added to it every day.

Firewood, dung and crop residues are major sources of energy for rural and low-income urban households. In 1992, firewood provided fuel to about 60 percent of rural and low income families followed by dung in dry form at around 18pc.

Only 4pc of Pakistan’s total area is covered by forest with only 5pc area protected. To control deforestation, adoption of biogas is the best technology and option in Pakistan.

It seems strange as to why biogas plants have not been installed to reduce the speed and scale of deforestation, especially in the forest-rich Malakand and Hazara divisions. 

Around 70 percent population in KP lives in the rural areas. Most farmers have two or more cattle whose dung mixed with an equal proportion of water can be used to produce biogas. Any farmer having at least three animals can establish this plant with a one-time investment of Rs40,000 to 50,000.

If individual farmers are not ready or cannot afford the expenses, a few families with domestic animals could jointly install such a plant in their neighbourhood. And by selling the gas to families that cannot contribute manure daily for having no animals, the maintenance expenditure, if any, could be financed with this money.

The government needs to give more attention and funds to spread this technology to the countryside. Media should also create awareness among the rural community and NGOs and foreign investors should be encouraged to spread it.

A typical biogas plant consists of a digester where the anaerobic fermentation takes place, a gasholder for collecting the biogas, the input-output units for feeding the influent and storing the effluent respectively, and a gas distribution system.

 

— Tahir Ali

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biogas to run the large fuel cell farm at Apple’s North Carolina data center

We were wondering where Apple and Bloom Energy were planning on getting all that biogas to run the large fuel cell farm at Apple’s North Carolina data center. According to a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Apple will get the biogas — which is methane from decomposing organic material — from landfills (hat tip Data Center Knowledge).

Apple will actually use “Directed Biogas,” meaning that the biogas from the landfills will be cleaned and injected into the local natural gas pipeline, and the fuel cells won’t be directly running off of the biogas. But Apple’s biogas supplier will inject the equivalent amount of biogas that would be used by the 4.8 MW of fuel cells.

Biogas can come from various types of wastes including hog farms — which are prevalent in North Carolina — restaurants and industrial processes, and water treatment facilities. Biogas is created when organic matter is broken down in a closed anaerobic digester, or a landfill where oxygen isn’t present, and the gas is captured.

Biogas in many states is considered renewable energy because it is mostly methane gas and can be used in place of fossil fuels for heating, electricity or powering transportation. Methane is a greenhouse gas, and it is also being stopped from being released into the atmosphere in this process. Beyond Apple, Google and Microsoft are also interested in biogas projects.

Biogas is still a very small source of power in the U.S. According to the American Biogas Council, there are only over 160 anaerobic digesters on farms and about 1,500 more operating at wastewater treatment plants. Patrick Serfass, the Executive Director of the trade group the American Biogas Council, says that the biggest barrier to more companies utilizing biogas is awareness.

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Step by Step biogas plant building

Step by Step Guide to Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester by Plastic 1000 letter and 1500 letter water tank


Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester  you have to tow water tank one is 1000 letter and other is 1500 letter. first of all you cut both tank near top of the tank and put some PVC pipe as outlet and inlet of bio digester and gas pipe  on bottom of the 1000 letter water tank than put animal dung (gobar gas) and leave it for a week if you want to read full story step by step with the help of pictures visit Step by Step Guide to Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester 

Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester Part 4

Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester inlet Part 3

Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester outlet Part 2

Step by Step Guide to Constructing a Floating Drum Biogas Digester Part 1

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Working with biofuels

Working with biofuels

Biofuels are more “sensitive” than conventional petroleum-based fuels. You can store petroleum for years, but biofuels degrade and need to be sold and used within six months of production. If not, the fuel oxidizes, creating corrosive by-products.This is bad news for car engines, especially for injection components vulnerable to acids. Ethanol poses its own problems: the fuel is very attracted to water, so it’s hard to handle
in humid climates like that of West Africa. In order to meet the specification required, the ethanol blending must be done by adding it into a gasoline blendstock (BOB). Micro-organisms can also grow around biofuels,
which means more frequent cleaning of storage tanks; and because biofuels act as solvents, they can dislodge sludge which then blocks pipes and delivery nozzles. Biofuels can also contaminate other fuels, and pose a particular threat to jet fuel used in airplanes. These problems are all soluble, however; and the ARA believe that with good quality management, testing, certification, and monitoring, biofuels could work well in many African countries. Existing service stations are mostly already adequate for storage and consumer sale, and transporting biofuels presents no real problems – apart from the ethanol-water issue. Because it is biologically- based, the hazard from accidental spills is less than from conventional fuels. There
is one known safety issue with FAME – the primary biofuel in biodiesel: fuel-saoked rags may spontaneously combust, and need to be disposed of with care.

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What’s the advantage of biofuels?

What’s the advantage of biofuels?

The promise of biofuels is that they let you have your cake and eat it: to drive cars ithout damaging the environment. The idea is that biofuels are a way to recycle carbon dioxide. CO2 is released when any fuel is
burned. But the carbon stored in petroleum or coal, has been there for thousands of years, so burning these fuels adds CO2 to the air. But biofuels are made from plants, which remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow: emissions are balanced by carbon capture. There are other potential bonuses, too. A large biofuels industry might help cut the price of oil, while start-up costs are low and could boost an agricultural economy, creating
jobs.

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Biofuels in Africa

Biofuels in Africa An African Refiners Association guide

Many of the biggest questions facing societies today come down to energy. Is oil running out? Are we destroying our climate with Greenhouse Gases? How can we make enough clean energy to light every home on the planet?
In all this discussion, much has been said about the benefits of biofuels. But is it all hype? Are biofuels an answer to the world’s energy problems? Or are they a distraction? We see biofuels in use in Europe, in Brazil, in the USA. But can they be introduced to Africa, perhaps saving billions of dollars in costs? Or are the technical problems too great?
This Guide, drawn up by the African Refiners Association –the cross-continent association that promotes pan-African cooperation in energy – offers some answers to these and other questions. What are biofuels anyway?
A biofuel is any fuel made from “renewable” resources. “Renewable” just means some-thing that grows – a tree, a plant or an animal. So humankind has been using biofuels for millions of years, in the form of wood,
charcoal, peat or animal dung. But recent advances in chemistry mean it is now possible to make liquid fuels from renewables – substitutes for gasoline or diesel. Up to a point...
Biofuels only work in most of today’s cars and trucks in blended form –mixed with regular fuels – either to make biodiesel (which is 7%biofuel), or to make a gasoline-ethanol mix(up to 25% biofuel), sometimes called “gasohol”. In Brazil, though, they have built cars which can burn 100% ethanol; and car-makers are starting to make “flex-fuel” vehicles, which can burn from 0% to 100% biofuel mixtures. Biofuels seem to be on the up.

There are three main sources today: trees, plants rich in vegetable oils, and sugar and corn which can be made into ethanol. Experiments are ongoing with new plants like jatropha; and with systems that grow hydro-
carbon-rich algae. In future we may make “second generation” liquid biofuels from plant cellulose – even from wood.

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Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas retain strong support despite the stuttering global economy

LONDON Globally, large investments and an increased emphasis on organic waste landfill diversion are driving anaerobic digestion (AD) through the economic gloom. On both sides of the Atlantic, the environmental profile, economic credentials and reliability of AD are making it an increasingly attractive proposition for waste management companies and investors alike.

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In the UK, the Prince of Wales’ private estate and Jacob Rothschild are among the high profile investors behind the $103 million investment in Tamar energy which plans to build 40 digesters in the UK alone. Meanwhile, in the USA, AgPower are set to open the largest AD facility on the continent this year. Waste management companies are among the significant players committed to AD and other new approaches in organics management; Tim Hawkins, Area Vice President for Waste Management Inc. commented; “As the nation’s largest environmental solutions provider, our customers are asking us to help them meet their sustainability goals.”
But despite enormous progress, the US and the UK lag significantly behind continental Europe in terms of development. The maze of bureaucracy in regulation and permitting, as well as the project economics are delaying the progress of AD as a feasible and widely implemented technology for utilizing organic wastes. Haley Sawyer of Navigant Consulting, in her article on the opportunities in Anaerobic Digestion said, “AD conversion requires a specific organic waste composition and a sufficient supply, without which biogas output will be lower, and the project will be uneconomic.”
The message from stakeholders across the industry is clear; Investment coupled with a serious commitment to sustainable goals and long term feedstock agreements will lead ultimately to an economic business proposition that provides genuine societal benefit. Renewable Waste Intelligence has provided a forum, in San Francisco, to address these issues of business model, investment, infrastructure and long term agreements.
The Anaerobic Digestion Conference and Expo is bringing together waste management companies, entrepreneurs, municipal authorities and investors to ensure that solid supply chains can be built for the long term: Take a look at: http://goo.gl/u7Gnm or email Oliver Saunders at osaunders@renewable-waste.com to find out more about how you can get involved.

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Types of Anaerobic Digesters

Types of Anaerobic Digesters Biogas Plant

Anaerobic digesters are capable of treating insoluble wastes and soluble waste-waters. Insoluble wastes such as particulate and colloidal organics are considered to be high-strength wastes and require lengthy digestion periods for hydrolysis and solubilization. Digester retention times of at least 10–20 days are typical for high-strength wastes. High-rate anaerobic digesters are used for the treatment of soluble wastewaters. Because these wastewaters do not require hydrolysis and solubilization of wastes, much faster rates of treatment are obtained. High-rate anaerobic digesters usually have retention times of less than 8 hours.
High-strength wastes are usually treated in suspended growth systems, whereas soluble wastewaters are usually treated in fixed-film systems. Several anaerobic digester processes and configurations are available for the treatment of insoluble wastes and soluble wastewaters . Each configuration impacts solids retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT). Minimal HRT is desired to reduce digester volume and capital costs. Maximal SRT is desired to achieve process stability and minimal sludge production Readmore

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Dengue season is coming back

dengue mosquito

Dengue season is coming back

Dengue fever is caused by one of four different but related viruses. It is spread by the bite of mosquitoes, most commonly the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which is found in tropic and subtropic and the Caribbean regions , usually during the rainy seasons in areas with high numbers of infected mosquitoes.Asia-Pacific countries have more than 70% of the disease burden.Dengue fever can be caused by any one of four types of dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. A person can be infected by at least two, if not all four types at different times during a life span, but only once by the same type.Dengue fever begins with a sudden high fever, often as high as 104 – 105 degrees Fahrenheit, 4 to 7 days after the infection.A flat, red rash may appear over most of the body 2 – 5 days after the fever starts with intense headache, joint and muscle pain and a rash. Mild bleeding of the nose or gums may occur.. A second rash, which looks like the measles, appears later in the disease. Infected people may have increased skin sensitivity and are very uncomfortable. The hemorrhagic form of dengue fever is more severe and associated with loss of appetite, vomiting, high fever, headache, difficulty breathing and abdominal pain. Shock and circulatory failure may occur. Untreated hemorrhagic dengue results in death in 40 to 50 percent of cases.Read More

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Fraunhofer turns brown bananas and squashed tomatoes into useful biogas

Fraunhofer turns brown bananas and squashed tomatoes into useful biogas

Mushy tomatoes, brown bananas and overripe cherries – to date, waste from wholesale markets has ended up on the compost heap at best. However, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB have developed a new facility that ferments this waste to make methane, which can be used to power vehicles. Drivers who fill up with natural gas instead of gasoline or diesel spend less on fuel and are more environmentally friendly. Natural gas is kinder on the wallet, and the exhaust emissions it produces contain less carbon dioxide and almost no soot particles. As a result, more and more motorists are converting their gasoline engines to run on natural gas. But just like oil, natural gas is also a fossil fuel, and reserves are limited.
Now, though, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart (Germany) have developed an alternative: They have found a way to obtain this fuel not from the Earth’s precious reserves of raw materials, but from fruit and vegetable waste generated by wholesale markets, university cafeterias and canteens. Fermenting this food waste produces methane, also known as biogas, which can be compressed into high-pressure cylinders and used as fuel.
In early 2012, the researchers will begin operating a pilot plant adjacent to Stuttgart’s wholesale market. The facility uses various microorganisms to generate sought-after methane from the food waste in a two-stage digestion process that lasts just a few days.
“The waste contains a lot of water and has a very low lignocellulose content, so it’s highly suitable for rapid fermentation,” says Dr.-Ing. Ursula Schließmann, head of department at the IGB. But it still presents a challenge, because its precise composition varies every day. Sometimes it has a high proportion of citrus fruits, while other times there are more cherries, plums and lettuce. On days with a higher citrus fruit content, the researchers have to adjust the pH value through substrate management, because these fruits are very acidic.
“We hold the waste in several storage tanks, where a number of parameters are automatically calculated – including the pH value. The specially designed management system determines exactly how many litres of waste from which containers should be mixed together and fed to the microorganisms,” explains Schließmann. It is vital that a correct balance be maintained in the plant at all times, because the various microorganisms require constant environmental conditions to do their job.
Another advantage of the new plant lies in the fact that absolutely everything it generates can be utilized; the biogas plant, the liquid filtrate, and even the sludgy residue that cannot be broken down any further. A second sub-project in Reutlingen comes into its own here, involving the cultivation of algae. When the algae in question are provided with an adequate culture medium, as well as carbon dioxide and sunlight, they produce oil in their cells that can be used to power diesel engines. The filtrate water from the biogas plant in Stuttgart contains sufficient nitrogen and phosphorus to be used as a culture medium for these algae, and the reactor facility also provides the researchers with the carbon dioxide that the algae need in order to grow; while the desired methane makes up around two thirds of the biogas produced there, some 30 percent of it is carbon dioxide. With these products put to good use, all that is left of the original market waste is the sludgy fermentation residue, which is itself converted into methane by colleagues at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
Others involved in this network project, which goes by the name of ETAMAX, include energy company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg and Daimler AG. The former uses membranes to process the biogas generated in the market-place plant, while the latter supplies a number of experimental vehicles designed to run on natural gas. The five-year project is funded to the tune of six million euros by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). If all the different components mesh together as intended, it is possible that similar plants could in future spring up wherever large quantities of organic waste are to be found. Other project partners are the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, FairEnergie GmbH, Netzsch Mohnopumpen GmbH, Stulz Wasser- und Prozesstechnik GmbH, Subitec GmbH und the town Stuttgart.

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Biogasrat to promote biogas in Russia

Biogasrat to promote biogas in Russia

      RBC, 24.02.2012, Moscow 17:21:45.Russia's National Union for Bioenergy, Renewable Energy Sources and Environmental Protection (NSBE) and German union of biogas companies Biogasrat have agreed to cooperate in order to establish a biogas industry in Russia, Russia's Corporation GazEnergoStroy, a member of NSBE, said in a press release.

      NSBE and Biogasrat will focus on securing investment, supplies of equipment and materials, R&D, and soliciting government relations for biogas companies.

      The parties intend to finance the construction of biogas stations, use biogas in power generation, and produce biomethane, which is upgraded biogas. No biomethane is produced in Russia at present, but the parties expect to supply it to the gas transportation system for distribution to Russian consumers and exports to the EU sometime in the future.

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Biogas plants in hostels, hotels in Chandigarh to save fuel

Biogas plants in hostels, hotels in Chandigarh to save fuel

Most of the hotels, Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Government Medical College and Hospital-32 (GMCH) and all hostels on the Panjab University (PU) campus will have to generate their own energy through biogas plants, according to the master plan of the city.

The master plan committee that is preparing a comprehensive plan for the futuristic development of city has received feedback from the department of science and technology that biogas plants using kitchen wastes of these institutions would results in saving LPG in city. The plan has been explored by the department of science and technology to switch over from conventional resources of energy to renewable energy resources in a phased manner. As per the proposal, biogas would be produced from the waste of kitchens of these institutions to meet the requirements. It would not only help reduce consumption of LPG, but would also manage waste.

Department has also prepared a plan in this regard and has been submitted to the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) of the central government. This was submitted before the committee that is preparing the master plan of city. As per the draft master plan, copy of which is available with the TOI, the aim of this proposal is to reduce the energy demand and to utilization of locally available resources.

All these institutions have also been asked to supply required information in this concern by the committee.

As per the feedback received on January 21 this year from the department of science and technology and various other departments by the master plan committee, there is possibility of installation of biogas plants.

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Building Industry News

Anaerobic digestion scheme unveiled



A new network of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants will be built to create energy using organic waste, it has been revealed.

The £65 million Tamar Energy scheme is backed by investors including Lord Rothschild and the Prince of Wales's private Duchy of Cornwall estate.

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's has also pledged £2 million to the project.

The 40 sites will use waste such as food scraps to make green energy, as well as fertiliser for the agricultural industry.

Bacteria will be used to convert the waste into biogas, which can then be burned to create electricity or used in the gas grid.

Some 100 megawatts of energy will be produced at the plants, organisers said.

The power plants will be developed over the next five years.

Welcoming the announcement, energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey said: "This is the sort of project that will be crucial for keeping the lights on and emissions down in the UK in the coming decades."

Copyright Press Association 2011

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Green electricity to beat high tariffs

Karachi —The concept of bio waste energy generation is a cost effective way to generate electricity being used by Karachi Electric Supply Company at a commercial scale which is supposed to reduce generation cost enabling the utility to pass on the benefits to hard hit power consumers besides setting an example for rest of the country to follow suit.

The initiative is appreciable on the part of KESC yet to NGOs and pressure groups never tired to raise a hue and cry over energy shortage should also comeforward to conceive such projects of renewable energy generation to make easy the life of the fellow citizens in the real life as making headlines denotes gaining for cheap publicity unless something is done to redress the sufferings of the common man.

According to a report, Karachi Electric Supply Company, as part of its fuel diversification, green electricity generation and sustainable development vision, is planning the development of one of the world’s largest Bio Waste to Energy Project of its kind near the Landhi cattle colony situated inKarachi. This plant is likely to have the potential of generating up to 22 MW of electricity fueled from biogas alone.

A localized Biogas plant is a socio-economically sustainable venture and reliable in comparison to wind or solar, which are vulnerable to extraneous variables, biggest being weather conditions. The Landhi Biogas project in Karachi will not only generate up to 22MW of green power but will also be producing up to 300 tons/day (tpd) of organic fertilizer as a meaningful byproduct. This organic fertiliser has special application in place of eroded soil which has lost it’s utility and where standard urea fertilizer won’t be effective. In addition to the above, this eco-friendly energy unit will also earn a significant amount of carbon credits, thereby making this Project economically viable.

Under this sustainable, renewable energy project, up to 4,200 tons of bio-degradable waste will be collected on a daily basis largely from cattle farms in Landhi (feedstock) and organic food waste from industries, food outlets and wholesale markets (co substrates) throughout Karachi. Under the signed memorandum with Karachi Dairy Farmers Association in December last year, the Association would provide 3,500 to 4,000 tons of cattle waste on a daily basis to KESC to be used as feedstock to produce biogas required for electricity generation. This landmark step will facilitate waste collection studies, project implementation and rollout of many socio-economic initiatives in the Landhi area of Karachi.

KESC has also signed an agreement with biogas technology providers M/s Highmark Renewables (HRR Canada) for onsite technical studies (Phase I) leading to project plant design, which now stand completed. During May to July 2011, HRR conducted on-site feasibility analysis using HRR’s patented technology to produce biogas. The initial trial runs have demonstrated that the customized ‘recipe’ and feed plan are feasible, yielding significant amounts of biogas during the trial run. Currently, KESC is moving into the Phase II of the project. This phase entails activities which include land development, and developing, waste collection mechanisms, Gold standard carbon credits, formation of strategic partnerships and financial close.

Furthermore, KESC is looking for ways to engage private and public sector entities for provision of benefits to the residents and workers of the Landhi Cattle Colony. At the moment a ‘social needs assessment’ is in progress and going forward, the project team is looking towards evolving a mechanism to ensure that the benefits can be provided to the society in a sustainable fashion. KESC is looking forward to working with the local / city government and leading national and international NGOs, for developing a mechanism to successfully roll out this and other similar CSR initiatives.

Meanwhile the cap on generation capacity of provincial power plant had been removed under the new national power policy and provinces were now free to set up plants of any capacity to meet their needs. This power devolution infact need to invite private sector to play its due role in combat the most nasty issue of power shortage which had adversely affected socio-economic development across the country resulting in flight of capital to the neighboring countries specially Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, African region and other countries. This potentially dangerous trend could only be stopped through improving the energy as well as law and order situation as both issues scaring away the existing investors but quite sufficient to drive away foreign investment as well. According to provincial minister for power Shazia Marri, the government was considering the production of biogas from sugar mills distilleries. Marri pointed out that Chinese companies were preparing a paper for power generation through low-head hydel projects at main canals in Sindh as had been done in Germany and other European countries. The minister for power has also emphasised the need for exploring clean, inexpensive, and environment-friendly, and renewable options for electricity generation including the wind and solar resources so that power generation needs of people could be met in the shortest possible time and best possible manner. She said the Sindh had been actively making progress towards exploiting the abundantly available renewable wind power resource in the province and under this initiative; the province would be able to generate 500-MW electricity through wind energy by March 2013.

In order to encourage investment in power sector the government has offered 20 per cent return on coal projects. In this respect at least one coal-fired power plant would be commissioned by 2015-16 while 19 companies have submitted a bank guarantee of $300,000 with the government for setting up renewable energy project in Sindh.
Source: http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=138788

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Photos of Mini Biogas plant, Anaerobic Digester

Photos of Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) Experiment

Concept The purpose of this project is to discover ways to produce Biogas with alternate sources by using our local resources this project can help students to basics of Anaerobic digestion and production of bio-gas by different organic wastage, basic task is to design, fabricate, and test a simple waste digester and gas collection system.With this system you can examine various facets of the anaerobic digestion process. 

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Habab idrees with Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester)

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

Biogas plant (Anaerobic Digester) in action

http://paksc.org/pk/diy-projects/item/764-biogas-plant-experiment.html

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Energy experts believe that seaweed holds enormous potential as a biofuel

The team at the Berkeley, California-based Bio Architecture Lab engineered a form of E. coli bacteria that can digest the seaweed’s sugars into ethanol. – Reuters Photo

WASHINGTON: Energy experts believe that seaweed holds enormous potential as a biofuel alternative to coal and oil, and US-based scientists said Thursday they have unlocked the secret of turning its sugar into energy.
A newly engineered microbe can do the work by metabolizing all of the major sugars in brown seaweed, potentially making it a cost-competitive alternative to petroleum fuel, said the report in the US journal Science.
The team at the Berkeley, California-based Bio Architecture Lab engineered a form of E. coli bacteria that can digest the seaweed’s sugars into ethanol, it said.
Unlike other microbes before, researchers found it can attack the primary sugar constituent in seaweed, known as alginate.
“Our scientists have engineered an enzyme to degrade and a pathway to metabolize the alginate, allowing us to utilize all the major sugars in seaweed, said Daniel Trunfio, chief executive officer at Bio Architecture Lab.
The advance “makes the biomass an economical feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals,” he said.
A company spokesman told AFP that the lab currently has four aquafarming sites in Chile where it hopes to “scale up its microbe technology as the next step on the path to commercialization” in the next three years.
Seaweed is seen as an appealing option for biofuel because, unlike corn and sugar cane, it does not use arable land and so does not compete with crops grown for food.
Less than three percent of the world’s coastal waters can produce enough seaweed to replace some 60 billion gallons of fossil fuel, according to background information in the article.
At peak production, seaweed could produce 19,000 liters per hectare annually, about twice the level of ethanol productivity from sugarcane and five times higher than the ethanol productivity from corn.
Funding for the research came from the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency, a grant from InnovaChile, and Norwegian oil giant Statoil

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Chesterfield BioGas Appoints MD

Chesterfield BioGas Appoints MD

UK - Biogas upgrading and refuelling equipment manufacturers Chesterfield BioGas Ltd (CBG) has appointed Stephen McCulloch as Managing Director.

He joined the organisation as Sales Manager in 2008 when it was first formed as a division of Chesterfield Special Cylinders Limited (CSC). Prior to that Stephen had been in production and sales management positions at Doncasters Group Ltd.
When CBG became a separate operating company within the Pressure Technologies group in Autumn 2010, Stephen became Director of Business Development. It was around this time that a biogas upgrading plant supplied by CBG was at the heart of the system which made the first injection of gas produced from waste into the UK national gas grid.
Based in Sheffield, CBG provide solutions for the cleaning, storage and dispensing of biomethane, produced from wastewater treatment and anaerobic digestion of organic waste. The company also manufactures and installs permanent and temporary fuelling stations for vehicles operating on compressed natural gas.
Now, as MD, Stephen will drive the company’s growth derived from an increasing flow of projects in the UK. Staff numbers are progressively increasing as CBG has rapidly established itself as a market leader in this sector of renewable energy in the UK.
He has also recently assumed the Chairmanship of the Biomethane-to-grid Working Group at the Anaerobic Digestion & Biogas Association (ADBA) - a leading trade body in the renewable energy from waste sector.
TheBioenergySite News Desk

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New success for city green energy business

Chesterfield BioGas Ltd (CBG) has today secured a contract to supply and install upgrading equipment for the UK’s latest project to use gas from renewable waste resources and inject it directly into the national gas grid.
The contract win is seen as a good deal for the company, a subsidiary of Pressure Technologies plc (PT).
The system in Stockport, like the first successful UK venture of its kind in Didcot which opened in October 2010, will feature, at its heart, an upgrading unit designed and manufactured by CBG’s partner, Greenlane® Biogas of New Zealand.
The modular ‘Kanuka’ unit will take the raw biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of food waste from local hotels and restaurants and, using the proven water-wash process, upgrade it to 98% pure biomethane. The unit is capable of processing up to 300 cubic metres of gas per hour and features a newly patented water-flooded screw compressor.
The facility, which will open in Autumn 2012, will be operated by Fairfield Bio Energy - a partnership between green energy firm Bio Group Ltd and Centrica, the owners of British Gas. It will generate enough renewable gas to supply the natural gas requirements for 1,400 homes.
CBG’s contract, including ancillaries and remote monitoring services, is worth approximately £1m.
CBG’s Managing Director, Stephen McCulloch, said of the contract win, “This is a considerable vote of confidence in our technology and performance. Our unit uses the proven Greenlane® water-wash process which is successfully operating at over 60 sites around the world.”
“CBG established a firm working relationship with Centrica in the course of our work at the first UK project, which opened in Autumn 2010, and we are delighted to be their preferred supplier once again.”
Describing the success of the first system in Stockport, he added, “Our first project at the Thames Water site at Didcot used raw biogas captured during the treatment of waste water. The fact that the new Stockport site will use gas derived from a completely different waste material is a significant testament to our upgrading system and its versatility in coping with variable inputs from the anaerobic digestion process.”
Group Chief Executive, John Hayward, was just as enthusiastic and said in a company statement, “Chesterfield BioGas is firmly established as the market leader in upgrade technology in the UK. As the only UK-based supplier and installer of this type of technology, we have the experience and expertise to manage projects to the exacting engineering and health and safety standards demanded by large utility companies and gas grid operators. We look forward to further progress in this market over coming months.”

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Biogas is probably the best kept secret in the renewable energy industry.

Biogas is probably the best kept secret in the renewable energy industry.
Organic waste is one of the untapped sources of natural energy available today. “It's a simple solution that can be deployed in as quickly as three days but people don't know too much about it”, says Jonathan de Magalhães, Managing Director of Ubuntu Energy Solutions. While biogas is used all over the world --India for example has more than 4.5 million digesters–harnessing biogas energy in South Africa is practically unknown. Only a small number of digesters have been built successfully and commissioned to date – a loss to the renewable industry sector in the country since biogas fulfils all of the criteria relating to environmental sustainability, requires a relatively low technological input and is cost effective to implement.
Biogas typically refers to the gas which is produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter. Organic waste, such as dead plant matter, animal manure and kitchen waste, can easily be converted into biogas in a simple biogas digester. Biogas consists mainly of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Biogas can be used as fuel for cooking, lighting, water heating as well as being able to run biogas generators to produce electricity.
Biogas provides a clean, easily controlled source of renewable energy from available organic waste for a small labour input, replacing firewood or fossil fuels, which are becoming more expensive as demand outweighs the supply.
Additionally, a biogas digester treats the organic waste and prevents it from taking up precious space in our landfills or over-burdened sewerage plants. In South Africa the waste disposed of in landfills produces unwanted landfill gas (Methane CH4) and leachate emissions. Furthermore, there is pressure on the country's aging sewerage system. According to de Magalhães, generating biogas presents a Win-Win -Win solution because it offers:
Easy disposal and treatment of Organic Waste

- Black Water Treatment: By feeding the black water (sewerage) into the biogas digester, additional organic waste as well as much needed water, will increase the yield of biogas from the digester daily. Additionally, in environments that would normally require a septic tank system, the cost saving of not needing the septic tank can be used to offset the costs of the biogas system.
- Organic waste, such as grass cuttings, animal manure, kitchen waste and almost any other type of similar waste, can be used to generate a usable form of energy.
- As the biogas digester is a closed system, there is no leakage of the organic waste into the surrounding environment. This can significantly reduce, or even eliminate, the need for an Environmental Impact Study.
Reduction of associated Energy Costs

- The biogas generated by the digester system can be used for water heating, space heating, cooking, lighting or running a biogas generator for electricity generation. Or any combination of these.
- By using biogas instead of traditional resources, such as electricity or gas, to provide this functionality, energy costs can be significantly reduced, providing a quick Return on Investment (ROI) for biogas solutions.

Provides further Cost Savings or a Passive Income

- As the process of biogas generation uses the bacteria in the organic waste, the organic slurry found at the end of the process can be easily managed, and all organic smells are contained within the closed digester system. This organic slurry can be used as a natural fertiliser for nearly all agricultural applications, reducing any costs associated with purchasing traditional fertilisers.
- This 100% natural organic fertiliser can also be sold to agricultural farms and nurseries, either in its liquid form or pre-dried and pelletized, providing an additional form of income from the biogas digester.

Biogas digesters are used all over the world, and the technologies have made leaps and strides, especially over the past three years. The first biogas system was installed in India in 1859. South and south-west Brazil are characterised by intensive livestock farming. Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost Federal state in Brazil, has an abundance of pig farms. The manure produced in large quantities by pig farming is used for biogas production.
According to de Magalhães, generating biogas offers a better Return on Investment (ROI) than solar or wind systems. “It's easy to install and deploy, and is very low in maintenance, probably only requiring some attention once every 5 to 7 years. For these reasons, biogas digesters would work well in rural villages, farming communities and game lodges,” says de Magalhães.
But even the average family in Johannesburg could use their organic household waste in a biogas system. “As long as you have enough feedstock to put into the biogas system, such as blackwater, grass cuttings, and a reasonable amount of kitchen waste, then you can generate your own biogas. Even with a small system with enough organic feedstock, combine this with some solar panels and an intelligent inverter system, and you could get about 80% off the grid, all things considered.” says deMagalhães.“There is no smell because it is a closed system, and the payback period could easily be under 10 years, which is much shorter than a solar-powered system.”
However, amidst all these advantages, there have been no government initiatives in South Africa to assist those wishing to deploy biogas systems.
To learn more about biogas technology, be sure to attend the annual Africa Energy Indaba being held from February 21 to 23, 2012 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

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Exploring Biogas, An Untapped Source of Clean Renewable Energy

When most people think of clean technology and renewable energy, they think of the two industry stars: solar and wind power. In addition to their promise to replace fossil fuels, they're iconic and aesthetically pleasing. But other clean technology solutions have the potential to shine and make equal, if not greater, contributions to our success in weaning off fossil fuels. One of the most promising of these solutions is biogas.
This article focuses on the untapped power of biogas. First, we'll discusses why biogas is a real solution to our energy challenges today and why it's on the verge of transitioning from proven, popular biowaste conversion technology in Europe to a star role in the North American renewable energy economy. The second part presents how companies like Harvest are poised to transform the national clean tech landscape.
Attending lectures on renewable energy from 2009-2010 at Stanford University, I was impressed with graphs of the booming solar and wind power industries in Germany. However, I was surprised to learn from the German government’s publication of Renewable Energy Sources in Figures that solar power produces only 0.3 percent of Germany’s electricity and heat. Wind power performs slightly better at 2 percent. The real star of Germany’s impressive renewable energy industry is biomass: energy harvested from the flow of carbon above earth’s crust. The lack of discussion around biomass was surprising given the lecture hall filled with students discreetly eating their lunches and the sound of leaf blowers collecting yard debris in the background. We were unknowingly surrounded by the kind of materials that Germany uses to supply almost 8% of its electricity and heat.

Source: Germany’s BMU

In this article, I highlight an especially promising form of bioenergy used extensively in Germany and many other countries: biogas. Biogas turns today’s organic waste into tomorrow’s energy. Pizza crusts, fallen leaves, animal wastes, cornhusks, and many other feedstocks can be digested to generate biogas and then turned into nutrient-rich compost or fertilizer pellets.
Biogas­, a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases, can be used for electricity and heat production, upgraded into a vehicle fuel, or fed directly into the natural gas grid. Not only is this technology flexible, it is available today, and does not need years of subsidy-fueled research to be viable.
Germany has built a robust biogas industry. Projections for 2011 in Germany show biogas sourced from agricultural feedstocks producing 17 million MWh of electricity, representing 3% of total production. Their 6,800 anaerobic digestion plants supply nearly 5 million homes with power, create €6 billion in revenue, and employ 20,000 people. The projected growth of this industry for 2020 shows 25,000 digesters supplying Germany with 76 million MWh, or 17% of electricity production, powering 22 million homes, creating €26 billion in revenue, and employing 85,000 people. These projections do not include biogas available from food or municipal waste, so the potential impact of the entire biogas industry is even larger than the projections listed above.
In comparison, the United States has a far more extensive agricultural system than Germany with fourteen times the expanse of cropland and eight times as many cattle. The German biogas industry can be modeled as applied to land and cattle resources to the United States. If the United States had followed Germany’s path of development for a biogas industry, in 2011 a network of 88,000 digesters would have produced 223 million MWh of electricity, representing over 5% of total electricity production. This would have powered 20 million homes, created $26 billion in revenue and employed 260,000 people. Instead the United State’s biogas industry can boast a meager 171 digesters, which produce well under 1% of total heat or electricity production.
The United States should put its vast quantities of agricultural residues to use and embrace a biogas industry. Digesters, a scalable technology, can be built on farms of all sizes and create additional income for the millions of farmers in the United States. A biogas industry would help agricultural communities stay afloat in the fast paced economy of the 21^st century. In addition to agricultural waste, the United States also produces huge amounts of organic waste in other forms such as leftover food, yard debris, and sewage. Millions of tons of these wastes are discarded each year, incurring costs for both collection, transportation to distant landfills, and disposal. Conversely, using our apple cores, tree trimmings, and even our sewage to generate biogas could produce over 30 million MWh of electricity, while saving cities and towns money on waste management and creating jobs and revenue.
Germany provides a model that demonstrates how biogas can offer great benefits to society with significant agricultural resources like the United States. In addition to benefitting rural areas, biogas can cut costs and simplify waste management for urban centers. Now, as I munch my lunch and listen to leaf blowers, I imagine how these organic materials could fuel our future.
Taking the Next Step Towards a Fuel at our Fingertips


The first part of this editorial applied a new lens to lunch and explored the untapped potential of biogas. Germany provided a model for this energy resource – organic materials – that can reduce fossil fuel dependence while contributing to rural and urban economies. This second section takes a closer look at biogas as a vehicle fuel and its benefits to the environment.
Biogas is a flexible fuel in today’s car economy. It can be used to produce electricity to power electric vehicles and it can also be processed into a vehicle fuel comparable to biodiesel and ethanol. In 2011 the Honda Civic CNG became the first natural gas vehicle available in the United States which means it can run on upgraded biogas.
Biogas reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels. Biofuels use carbon that is already part of the cycle above the earth’s crust, limiting greenhouse gas emissions. When anaerobic digestion plants are applied to the organic fraction of municipal waste, not only does the resulting captured biogas energy offset fossil fuels, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with organic materials in landfills. If organic waste is left in landfills, it produces methane as it breaks down (methane is a potent greenhouse gas if emitted to the atmosphere directly). While many landfills have gas capture systems, the methane can still escape, and of those that collect the gas not all generate useful electricity or fuel.
Compared to other biofuels like ethanol or biodiesel, biogas is preferable when derived from energy crops due to higher gross and net energy yield, as well as dramatically better greenhouse gas profile. Looking at the German bioenergy industry reveals that the same area of land produces double the gross miles, and yields nearly three times the net energy as ethanol.

In summary, biogas efficiently uses materials that would frequently be disposed of, is flexible in its applications, supports rural development, cuts waste management costs, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and has a higher energy yield when applied to energy crops. The United States has poured billions of dollars into research and direct subsidies for liquid biofuels to find a temporary replacement for gasoline. In that search we may have overlooked a renewable natural resource lying quite literally at our fingertips: Biogas.
Source: www.eponline.com/articles/2012/01/12/exploring-biogas-an-untapped-source-of-clean-renewable-energy.aspx

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