Sunday, August 31, 2014

Replacing coal with biogas

RNE has a look at some CEFC programs to increase the use of biogas in Australia - Major beef processor turns to biogas to halve power bills.

One of Australia’s largest meat processors – and a major regional employer, providing 830 jobs – is among the latest recipients of funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, in a deal to co-finance a major on-site energy project at northern NSW-based Bindaree Beef.
The CEFC announced on Tuesday it would provide up to $15 million, together with additional bank finance and an Australian Government Clean Technology Investment Program grant, to fund the installation of a biodigester and energy efficient rendering facilities to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of operations at Bindaree Beef.
As well as the biodigester, the funding will go towards development of an electricity generation facility using biogas (produced by the biodigester) as fuel, and a new more energy efficient rendering plant to replace the existing coal-fired plant and eliminate the use of coal. Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 10.37.13 AM
The new equipment is expected to halve the company’s power bills and cut its annual carbon emissions by three quarters. The biogas plant will also create a new business revenue stream through sales of organic fertiliser – a by-product of the energy conversion process.
Bindaree Beef Director John Newton said securing finance from the CEFC – a $10 billion Labor government initiative, which remains on the Abbott government’s chopping block – had been integral to securing the interest of additional private finance, which, along with the government grant, would cover the total project cost. ...
In March this year, the CEFC contributed $20 million to a funding deal with Quantum Power Limited – Australia’s leading biogas company – to catalyse up to $40 million in biogas infrastructure aimed at helping farmers and manufacturers cut costs and boost productivity in the face of rising electricity prices.

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Scottish Government gives go ahead to world’s largest tidal power project

Energy Efficiency News has a post on a tidal power project in Scotland - Scottish Government gives go ahead to world’s largest tidal power project.

The Scottish Government has given the go ahead to what will be the world’s largest tidal stream energy array to date in the Sound of Islay.

The £40 million ScottishPower Renewables development of underwater turbines will have a capacity of 10 MW, generating enough electricity to power around 5000 homes and eight local distilleries and maltings.

“With around a quarter of Europe’s potential tidal energy resource and a tenth of the wave capacity, Scotland’s seas have unrivalled potential to generate green energy, create new, low carbon jobs, and bring billions of pounds of investment,” commented Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney in a statement yesterday.

He said that ScottishPower Renewables, which is owned by Spanish power giant Iberdrola Renovables, will work with the Islay Energy Trust to maximise local social and economic benefits.

Local Scottish businesses are also set to benefit, with £4 million in contracts to make the turbines, with a test prototype being manufactured at Burntisland Fabrication’s (BiFab) facility in Arnish.

BiFab has a £2 million contract to build turbines for the ten 1 MW HS1000 devices to be used in the Islay project, which are being developed by Hammerfest Strøm, a joint venture between Scottish Power Renewables and Norwegian energy companies.

A prototype of the HS1000 device has been generating electricity in Norwegian waters for six years and the company is currently constructing the first commercial-scale device for testing in Scottish waters off Orkney later in the year.

Scotland is one of the leaders in tidal development, with world’s first commercial wave and tidal leasing round already underway for the Pentland Firth, which could ultimately produce some 1600 MW of marine energy.

“[The] announcement moves the whole marine renewables industry forward in Scotland and the UK,” says Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower Renewables. “The understanding we develop from Islay will be essential in delivering the larger planned projects in the Pentland Firth.”

The testing of the HS1000 later this year in Orkney will determine the rollout of the devices in Islay, but ScottishPower Renewables expects to start work on the project next year and start installation between 2013 and 2015.

New Zealand is also looking to develop some large scale tidal power - Kaipara tide turbine plan gets Govt green light.

A $600 million proposal to create New Zealands first tide-driven power station in the Kaipara Harbour has been approved by Government despite concerns it could kill off fish stocks and threaten critically endangered Maui dolphin.

Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson this morning signed off the staged installation of 200 tidal turbines near the mouth of the harbour by Crest Energy.

Local fisherman, Te Uri O Hau Settlement Trust and the Department of Conservation had opposed the plan, arguing it could reduce west coast snapper stocks, threaten the environment of the pristine harbour and impact Maui dolphin numbers.

But Ms Wilkinson backed an Environment Court ruling approving the station on the condition it started with only three turbines and conducted two years of environmental monitoring.

If fully implemented, it is estimated the development could generate enough electricity to power the area from Aucklands North Shore to Cape Reinga, she said.

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Alternative Energy Sources

Alternative Energy Sources Biography
Alternative Energy
Everyday, the world produces carbon dioxide that is released to the earth’s atmosphere and which will still be there in one hundred years time.

This increased content of Carbon Dioxide increases the warmth of our planet and is the main cause of the so called “Global Warming Effect”. One answer to global warming is to replace and retrofit current technologies with alternatives that have comparable or better performance, but do not emit carbon dioxide.

We call this Alternate energy.

By 2050, one-third of the worlds energy will need to come from solar, wind, and other renewable resources. Who says? British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell, two of the worlds largest oil companies. Climate change, population growth, and fossil fuel depletion mean that renewables will need to play a bigger role in the future than they do today.

Alternative energy refers to energy sources that have no undesired consequences such for example fossil fuels or nuclear energy. Alternative energy sources are renewable and are thought to be "free" energy sources. They all have lower carbon emissions, compared to conventional energy sources. These include Biomass Energy, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Hydroelectric Energy sources. Combined with the use of recycling, the use of clean alternative energies such as the home use of solar power systems will help ensure mans survival into the 21st century and beyond.