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    Mongabay, a leading resource for news and perspectives on environmental and conservation issues related to the tropics, has launched Tropical Conservation Science - a new, open access academic e-journal. It will cover a wide variety of scientific and social studies on tropical ecosystems, their biodiversity and the threats posed to them. Tropical Conservation Science - March 8, 2008.

    At the 148th Meeting of the OPEC Conference, the oil exporting cartel decided to leave its production level unchanged, sending crude prices spiralling to new records (above $104). OPEC "observed that the market is well-supplied, with current commercial oil stocks standing above their five-year average. The Conference further noted, with concern, that the current price environment does not reflect market fundamentals, as crude oil prices are being strongly influenced by the weakness in the US dollar, rising inflation and significant flow of funds into the commodities market." OPEC - March 5, 2008.

    Kyushu University (Japan) is establishing what it says will be the world’s first graduate program in hydrogen energy technologies. The new master’s program for hydrogen engineering is to be offered at the university’s new Ito campus in Fukuoka Prefecture. Lectures will cover such topics as hydrogen energy and developing the fuel cells needed to convert hydrogen into heat or electricity. Of all the renewable pathways to produce hydrogen, bio-hydrogen based on the gasification of biomass is by far both the most efficient, cost-effective and cleanest. Fuel Cell Works - March 3, 2008.


    An entrepreneur in Ivory Coast has developed a project to establish a network of Miscanthus giganteus farms aimed at producing biomass for use in power generation. In a first phase, the goal is to grow the crop on 200 hectares, after which expansion will start. The project is in an advanced stage, but the entrepreneur still seeks partners and investors. The plantation is to be located in an agro-ecological zone qualified as highly suitable for the grass species. Contact us - March 3, 2008.

    A 7.1MW biomass power plant to be built on the Haiwaiian island of Kaua‘i has received approval from the local Planning Commission. The plant, owned and operated by Green Energy Hawaii, will use albizia trees, a hardy species that grows in poor soil on rainfall alone. The renewable power plant will meet 10 percent of the island's energy needs. Kauai World - February 27, 2008.


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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

World's largest biomass plant running on chicken manure online in the Netherlands


Today, Gerda Verburg, Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Food Quality, opened the world's largest biomass power plant running exclusively on chicken manure. The €150 million project is owned and operated by multi-utility company Delta, cooperative DET, ZLTO and Austrian Energy & Environment A.G. (a consortium including Siemens Nederland N.V.) The facility will deliver renewable electricity to 90,000 households. The biomass power plant solves a key environmental problem in the Netherlands: managing the vast excess stream of chicken manure, which, until today, had to be processed at a high cost.

The biomass power plant will utilize approximately 440,000 tons of chicken manure, roughly one third of the total amount produced each year in the Netherlands. Many European countries, including the Netherlands, suffer under an excess of different types of animal manure that pollute the environment. Costly methods are used to avoid it being spread out over land, to process it or to avoid creating the excess in the first place. Using the manure as a carbon-neutral energy source has become the most efficient, environmentally-friendly, and cost-effective of all management options.

Interestingly, the biomass power plant is more than merely "carbon neutral". If the chicken manure were to be spread out over farm land, it would release not only CO2, but also methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. By using the manure for power generation, the release of methane is avoided.

The biomass power plant - unique because it exclusively burns chicken manure - has a capacity of 36.5MW, and will generate more than 270 million kWh of electricity per year. The facility is located on the Moerdijk in Zeeland, and will serve approximately 90,000 households.
Generating renewable and sustainable energy requires innovation. Innovating is costly and time-consuming, but important to make the transition from fossil to renewable fuels. The biomass power plant is one of the strategic components of our energy mix, which includes a wide range of renewable sources, as well as nuclear power. This diverse energy mix is needed to meet the ever increasing demand for electricity, but for us, building a smart and clean fuel sourcing strategy is more than meeting the consumer's demand, it is a matter of meeting our social obligations. - Peter Boerma, CEO Delta
The cooperative "Duurzame Energieproductie Pluimveehouderij (DEP)" (Sustainable Energy Production in the Poultry Sector) brings the chicken manure to the power plant. DEP has a member base of 629 poultry farmers, 70% of them operating in the south of the country. The power plant offers the poultry farmers an environmentally friendly, structurally sound and commercially interesting option enabling them to manage their production of chicken manure.

The Netherlands produces approximately 1.2 million tons of chicken manure per year. Until now, 800,000 tons of this amount was processed abroad, at high costs. One third of this amount will now be used in the biomass power plant. The ashes from the combustion of the manure are rich in phosphorus and kalium, and will be sold as a fertilizer with a high added value:
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The most obvious question many people in Moerdijk raised is whether the large amounts of chicken manure, when transported to and processed in the power plant, would leave a stench. The engineers who built the facility took care to address this issue: all the manure is transported in airtight trucks and is only released for processing once the trucks have entered an air lock in the fuel processing area.

The power plant's construction began on august 28, 2006 and cost €150 million. The facility provides jobs to 25 people. The project is the result of a cooperation between Delta, the cooperative DEP, Zuidelijke Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie (ZLTO) and Austrian Energy & Environment A.G.

These partners, alongside regional and national government in the Netherlands, are now looking into building similar biomass power plants to deal with other excess streams of manure.

References:
Delta: Van mest naar stroom - September 3, 2008.

Omroep Brabant: Verburg opent biomassacentrale Moerdijk [video and podcasts] - September 3, 2008.



3 Comments:

Anonymous Mahmoud said...

I never thought chicken manure could be used as a fuel. This is amazing.

6:48 AM  
Anonymous Sue said...

I'm all for it; this is the direction in which we have to go.
I'm wondering how the manure is collected.

1:12 AM  
Blogger Dennis said...

Well ... If chicken stuff can be used ?

What about other animals.

What about humans ?

9:18 AM  

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