Microbe farts
It is a well known fact that 90% of the methane produced in New Zealand comes from farting sheep. (Yes, I know the picture is a cow)All that wasted power and energy blowing in the wind.
Which is why, when the Creed recycling centre was being set-up, the use of every by-product was a major area of concern.
Thanks to the genius and lateral thinking of the Officers (and particularly the Director Mun Gold) we have ended up with our waste powering Post Office delivery vans with no fossil fuels used in the production of the fuel:
Organic and food waste collected from round the islands is put through a digester and produces methane.Brilliantly simple in theory, but highly complex to deliver, and congratulations are due to everyone involved in this utterly, utterly fantastic success story.In turn, this powers a gas engine creating electricity which is used to electrolyse water to produce hydrogen.
First the plant itself led the way; now the by-products do the same.
7 comments:
i thought methane was produced by animals, not plants!
I would like to see the energy/greenhouse gas audit for the whole shebang.
Obviously you're not a golfer.
I wonder whether the extra energy-using processes and other associated power usages really make this such a great idea?
Does the digester produce more methane than would be created if the waste was lying in landfill? And where do the byproducts of the methane used go? It can't all be absorbed. Is it pumped out into the atmosphere? Bearing in mind that methane is nearly 20 times worse than CO2 for the environment a la 'global warming', shouldn't we be trying to produce as little of it as possible?
Yours flatulently...
Methanogenesis or biomethanation is what goes on in a rubbish dump it is the formation of methane by microbes known as methanogens. My understanding is that as much Methane will be produced in landfill as will be produced in a controlled environment i.e. a digester. In a digester it will just be produced more efficiently as a digester will allow gas to be produced in perfect conditions.
As has quite rightly be said Methane is a far worse greenhouse gas than many others so it is better to trap the methane and use it thereby getting benefit from it before in effect turning it into C02, although in theory and at considerable cost the C02 could be washed/scrubbed out, our more topically trapped underground.
I hope this helps those who struggle to understand the process's that are going to take place whether we like it or not. Things rot and when they do they give of gas, it happens, so lets use the gas, this is a brilliant idea.
Great scheme but is it not a case of the exchair of Environment farting down his own trumpet, dont forget Emporer Mun of the croft.
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