German biogas company to make gas from sugarcane residues in India

One of the world's leading biogas companies, Biogas Nord AG, based in Bielefeld is taking its first step into the robustly growing Indian renewable energy market. The company received the first contract for the construction of a large biogas plant for the sugar factory Shree Tatyasaheb Kore Warana SSK Ltd. in the Indian state of Maharashta.

The sugar factory in Warana offers the ideal conditions for the operation of a biogas plant. The factory produces approximately 40,000 tons of press cake (bagasse) per year, from which biogas can be produced on a large scale. At the same time, high-quality fertilizer is left behind, and the methane gas emissions that would otherwise be produced can be avoided.

Biogas Nord is going to plan, deliver, and install the new plant and put it into service once completed. The construction of the current biogas plant will begin in approximately three months, will be finished by the end of this year and put into service at the beginning of the coming year. The biogas produced at the sugar factory should replace the fossil fuels it uses for its operations.

The highly efficient biogas plants installed by Biogas Nord AG are based on a flow-storage process. This involves the operation of several tanks (fermenters) with biomass substrate continuously flowing through them (see picture, click to enlarge).

The contract, worth €1.8 million euros, was signed and the foundation stone for the biogas plant was laid in the presence of the Minister for Economic Affairs from North Rhine-Westphalia, Christa Toben, and of Vinay V. Kore, Minister of the State of Maharashta responsible for renewable energy. Mr Kore recently visited North Rhine-Westphalia and was convinced of the potential for large-scale biogas production.

Discussions were held on further biogas plant developments with other sugar factories in the state. There are 165 sugar factories in Maharashta, representing more than half of the total sugar factories in India:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: bagasse :: sugarcane :: biogas ::India ::

Biogas Nord AG is one of the largest German technology providers in the biogas sector. The services of the company and its currently over 130 employees encompass all areas of biogas technology, from concept development, detailed planning, plant construction and operation to service and support. The company has already grown very strongly in the last several years. Since 1995, it planned and built over 150 biogas plants.

About fifty other biogas plants are currently in the construction, approval, or planning phase in Germany, the Netherlands, Belarus, USA, England, Italy, Spain, Cuba, and Thailand.

The installed electrical output of BIOGAS NORD biogas plants is more than 50 MW, which can supply 70,000 households with electricity or heat from renewable energy.

Article continues

Scientists develop analytical system to monitor trace elements in biomass gasification

In recent years there has been significant and high-profile interest in the use of biofuels as possible alternatives to fossil fuels, as part of a move to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Although combustion accounts for most biofuel use, there has also been significant research into biofuel gasification, a transformation step needed to make synthetic biofuels (earlier post, and here).

However, the behaviour of trace elements during gasification can be problematic, with environmental concerns over toxic components, and process problems caused by alkali metal corrosion and fouling.

David Poole and colleagues at the University of Sheffield and SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, Germany have been conducting experiments to continuously monitor the concentration of various trace elements in the raw gasification gas from an experimental reactor (click to enlarge), in an effort to determine which elements are volatilised. They published their results in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry [open access article].

Results of initial tests indicate that the concentration of some elements in the gas phase are extremely high, far higher than in combustion processes, and therefore are of significant concern. Owing to to problems with tar formation in the gasification process, the analysis proved extremely challenging, and further development of the sampling and pre-treatment procedure would be required to obtain more accurate, reliable, and long-term continuous monitoring results.

The German and British scientists also developed a portable, self-contained analytical laboratory for the continuous monitoring of the trace elements that are released during biofuel gasification. The system uses an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer to measure the concentration of up to 70 elements simultaneously:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: gasification :: trace elements :: biomass :: biomass-to-liquids ::

'Gasification is of growing interest as this can increase the energy efficiency of biofuel use,' said Poole, 'but the behaviour of trace elements during gasification can be problematic, with environmental concerns over toxic constituents such as lead, cadmium and arsenic, and process problems caused by others such as potassium and sodium.'

High concentrations of potassium and sodium were detected, which, according to Poole, could result in fouling and corrosion of gasification plants. The heavy metals measured were not detected at significantly high concentrations. The researchers will continue to optimise and improve their analytical system, and plan to develop more automated and robust systems.

More information:
David J. Poole, Vida Sharifi, Jim Swithenbank, Paul Kilgallon, Nigel Simms, John Oakey and Dirk Ardelt, "Continuous analysis of elemental emissions from a biofuel gasifier", J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2007 DOI: 10.1039/b616798e

Article continues

US-EU forum on transatlantic energy technology development

The European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, has attended an EU-US Ministerial Troika meeting in Washington yesterday, alongside German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier representing the current EU Presidency, and High Representative Javier Solana. The agenda was dominated by external relations issues, after which Ferrero-Waldner attended a meeting bringing together US and European scientists, financiers and entrepreneurs to launch a US-EU Energy Tech CEO Forum to intensify Trans-Atlantic energy technology development. Amongst the entrepreneurs present were Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, who has been investing heavily in cellulosic ethanol in the US and in Brazil.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opened the Forum by summing up the challenges for the future of energy supplies, energy security and global sustainability. Not surprisingly, the recently closed biofuels cooperation agreement between the US and Brazil was put forward as a sign of a new energy paradigm. In her speech, Ferrero-Waldner announced that the EU will host an international conference on biofuels on the 5th and 6th of July in Brussels that will be attended by President Barroso and President Lula.

A summary of the main points of the speeches offers an insight into how strentghened transatlantic ties on technology development, science, and energy policy may ultimately benefit poorer countries. And perhaps more importantly, this synergy may bring rapidly developing countries like China and India into a global partnership to tackle climate change:

• Energy is truly a global challenge - making a decisive impact on issues as diverse as security, diplomacy, development, and climate change. No one nation can address the global energy crisis alone. We need to work together to seize new opportunities to develop cleaner and more efficient sources of energy and to prevent the global and rapidly growing demand for energy resources from generating unnecessary confrontation in the years ahead.
• This is one of President Bush's highest priorities, and he has identified five key goals that will drive our policies at home and serve as the beginning of our consultations with allies abroad. We seek: (1) to diversify world energy sources through free, open, competitive markets; (2) to encourage a variety of energy sources, including renewable and alternate fuels; (3) to use energy wisely through efficiency and conservation; (4) to expand strategic energy reserves; (5)and to protect the world's critical energy infrastructure.
• President Bush recently visited Brazil and launched a new partnership with the Brazilian Government in the area of biofuels [earlier post]. This agreement will transform the way we work together (1) to promote a critical alternative energy source, (2) deepening research and investment, (3) helping developing countries in our hemisphere and beyond to fuel their growth, (4) and working to enable more countries to supply energy for themselves and for others.
• The goal [of the Brazil biofuels cooperation agreement] is to promote the democratization of energy - increasing the number of energy suppliers, which expands the market, boosts competition, and reduces the chance of supply disruption.
• We are approaching an inflection point in history when science, technology, policy and free markets are all converging on new approaches to supply affordable, reliable and clean sources of energy. To seize this opportunity fully, we need to change the shape of the table, ensuring a seat not just for policymakers, but for leading scientists and most especially for the private sector. That is exactly what we are doing today, Americans and Europeans together, to spur new and innovative approaches.
• The United States and Europe are in a unique position to advance our common energy agenda both across the Atlantic and across the world. We share a common heritage which has generated many of the world's great entrepreneurs and many of its leading economies. We have the deepest and most innovative capital markets, seeding and growing many of the world's most innovative companies. We also have world-leading technical capacity to solve intractable challenges.
• Our discussion today will target three key areas of transatlantic cooperation. (1) First, we will canvass the most promising opportunities for increasing government-to-government collaboration. (2) Second, we will explore how we can build better and more extensive public-private partnerships. (3) And finally, surrounded by the leaders of many of the most prominent companies in the energy industry, we will discuss opportunities among the private sector participants to push the edge of the envelope of energy technology innovation.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose country is holding the rotating presidency of the EU, stressed that climate change and technology transfers to non-Western countries will be crucial to ensure a clean and secure energy future:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: renewables :: energy security :: geopolitics :: energy cooperation :: US :: EU ::

• This forum once again bears out, or is going to bear out, that issues to do with climate policy have very much moved to the center of international politics. There is a link between energy policy -- in external energy policy, climate protection, that is indeed a central topic for us in Europe and not only for us in Europe really, but it's become a very important topic in the United States of America, too.
• We touched on the overall context of this subject matter the weekend before last and when we met at the EU summit meeting. And the decisions that were then taken reflect this discussion. I think it's fair to say that as far as our positions are concerned on a future policy and energy and climate, we have indeed made major headway here.
• Only last week when we met with our ASEAN counterparts in Nuremberg, we met with countries who based their hopes on the fact that in the end they will not only become objects of appeal but that they will be integrated and included in these joint efforts undertaken by the United States of America and the European Union to do more for climate protection to further develop energy technologies.
• And that then at a later point in time those technologies will also be made available to regions like Asia. I think that that is something that when we intensify the cooperation between the United States of America and Europe that is something that we can indeed attend to. I think it's going to be decisive for cooperation.
• Both sides of the Atlantic are very active when it comes to the public but also to the private funds. A lot of these funds go into these areas. We are doing much more than we used to do in order to promote research and development of new technologies.
• When it comes to cooperation between the United States and Europe, I think we can try to attend to reducing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, making tendering procedures easier so that the innovative potential can be tapped in a better way than has been the case so far and we can cooperate even more than we've done so far.

EU Commissioner for External Affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner:

• When we work together, the European Union and the United States, then I think we can also bring in other very important players. I was in China and India recently and I mentioned also, very high on my agenda, these questions. And as you said with ASEAN there is great interest also with other players.
• First on technology, I think we must bring to the markets new options for renewable energies and also for low emissions transport. And by the third quarter of this year, the commission indeed will table a very comprehensive directive -- you have heard about it already -- on the use of renewables, including on biofuels, heating and cooling, and also renewable electricity. And with our U.S. partners, we have recently also agreed to put second-generation biofuels at the top of our joint research agenda as already has been mentioned. And we are working on streamlining our respective procedures in order to cut off the red tape, very important.
• We are on a track to a low-carbon economy and during this year, we shall complete specific legislative proposals to reduce CO-2 emissions, particularly in new vehicles. We shall further complete specific legislation on carbon captures and also storage.
• Second point on targets. Our experience shows that voluntary targets alone, unfortunately, cannot do the job. Hence, the landmarks decisions of 9th March, when we, the European Union, entered into binding commitments on CO-2 reductions and renewables. And these targets are ambitious, but we think they are doable. While setting caps and limits, we are also committed to market-based instruments, notably the emissions trading system or the version of cap-and-trade.
• Market-based instruments help companies to channel investment to those areas where the impact is highest and costs are lowest. Before the summer, therefore, the commission will complete the ongoing review of the EU emissions trading system. And ETS, as we call it, will then enable the European Union to collectively meet our obligations under the Kyoto protocol. This system will provide companies with a long-term regulatory certainty, which is important for U.S., we know, to implement investments in the most efficient manner. And we would like to invite the U.S. Government to consider creating jointly with us a common carbon market and transparent and compatible rules. And may I remind you that it was indeed the U.S. that successfully pioneered the cap-and-trade in fighting acid rain.
• My third and last point, international cooperation. If we join forces, as I said at the beginning, I think we have a great chance to bring the other international actors in there. And meanwhile, I think there is tremendous scope for our joint EU-U.S. cooperation, but we also can work together with countries like China, India, Ukraine, and Russia. And in our bilateral strategy, the energy dialogue -- I must say we can share information about complimentary approaches. We can go out to the Caspian Sea region, the Black Sea region, and we are very keen to do that together.

Condoleezza Rice added that the United States has had an Asia-Pacific partnership, which includes China and India, in an effort to marry concerns about economic development, environmental stewardship, and energy supply. It is a model the thinks works very well because the point that China and India will have to somehow be a part of any effort is obviously a very important one. The Europeans are more in favor of a truly global and multilateral partnership, headed by the United Nations.

Article continues