Biogas and How to Make a DIY Anaerobic Digester (Video)

Biogas and anaerobic digestion made number one in HowStuffWorks' list of wacky alternative energy, and poop-to-energy biogas projects have proven popular on Discovery News too. From biogas in Haitian slums to green gas being sold direct to UK consumers, there are plenty of examples of innovative projects turning biodegreadable waste into both energy and fertilizer. But how can someone at home get a piece of the action? The Urban Farming Guys have just released a great video showing how they built a DIY biogas digester using little more than some tanks, piping, rubber seals and a grinder. Oh, and a whole load of cow poop.

Biogas as Part of Urban Farming Vision
The Urban Farming Guys is the video blog element of an inspiring urban agriculture and community renewal in which 20 families uprooted from suburbia to farm in inner-city Kansas City. From aquaponics to vermiculture to the biogas project shown below, the focus seems to be on building replicable, scalable solutions that can be used around the world to create resilient, healthy and sustainable neighborhoods.

Building an Anaerobic Digester 
But more than just building these things, The Urban Farming Guys are also dedicated to showing us how they built them, and having a little fun in the process. From cutting the tanks and piping, through ensuring air tight seals and managing the pH of the system, to dealing with the fertilizer byproduct, this is undoubtedly a useful video for anyone interested in trying anaerobic digestion or biogas for themselves.

Read more : http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/03/biogas-diy-anaerobic-digester.php

Leeds council to run biomethane fuel station

Leeds council is set to become one of the first local authorities to have its own permanent biomethane fuel station.

The £150,000 station will serve the city's two biomethane gas-powered rubbish trucks, providing fuel storage and easier refilling at the pumps.

Biomethane is a natural gas produced by breaking down organic materials like food waste and manure.

According to the council, its use offers significant cost savings as well as environmental benefits.

Read more : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-12840080

Savoura sur le marché du carbone

Reconnu comme le plus important producteur de tomates de serre au Québec, Les Serres du Saint-Laurent s’apprête à conquérir un autre marché: les crédits de carbone.

En novembre dernier, First Environment, de Chicago, a octroyé au serriculteur une validation qui lui ouvre la porte à ce prometteur marché. Ce sont ses installations en Mauricie qui lui ont valu ce laissez-passer que seule une autre entreprise au Canada a obtenu avant lui.

Les serres de Savoura à Saint-Étienne-des-Grès sont en effet chauffées par les biogaz produits par le site d’enfouissement de la Régie de gestion des matières résiduelles de la Mauricie (RGMRM). Ses besoins sont estimés à environ cinq millions de mètres cubes de biogaz par année.

Lire la suite : http://www.lhebdodustmaurice.com/Societe/Environnement/2011-03-24/article-2353144/Savoura-sur-le-marche-du-carbone/1

Ministers urged to advance renewable energy drive

EORGETOWN, Guyana, Friday March 25, 2011 – Energy Ministers from across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been challenged to advance the region’s renewable energy drive and leverage energy sector advantages in the face of the recent surge in oil prices. 

The was thrown out to the Ministers, meeting for the first time in more than two decades, by Acting CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite at the 35th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).

Against the background of the domino effect of the spike in oil prices occasioned by the continuing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the reported leaks from the Japan nuclear power plants following the earthquake there early in March, Applewhaite said that it appeared that renewable energy would have to play an even more important role than originally contemplated. 

She outlined the steps being taken by Member States to develop renewable energy resources and added that the CARICOM Secretariat had launched a `Greening Initiative’ to seek to improve efficiency through behaviour change, energy efficiency retrofits, as well as possible renewable energy generation, among other objectives.

Read more : http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/guyana_news308992.html#axzz1HdM1GsrU

Google funds company producing biofuel from grass

Business Green: Biofuel technology is an "innovative solution to one of the world's biggest problems", says Google
 
Google has again beefed up its position as one of the world's leading investors in innovative renewable energy technologies, shelling out an undisclosed sum as part of the latest funding round for
California-based start-up CoolPlanetBiofuels.

The investment, which follows an $8m funding round last year led by North Bridge Venture Partners an including GE Energy Financial Services, will support CoolPlanetBiofuels efforts to produce a biofuel made from biomass such as grass and wood chips, which the company claims will result in a "negative carbon fuel" that removes carbon from the atmosphere.

"The company has come up with an innovative solution to one of the world's biggest problems," said Wesley Chan, partner at Google Ventures. "The technology is a win-win as the company is developing a sustainable and renewable energy source that also helps reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere."

Read more : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/21/biofuels-google

Waste management to get extra $71.6 million from Quebec

MONTREAL - Quebec will spend $71.6 million by 2015 on a residential waste management program focused on diverting organic waste from landfill sites.

That money will be added to the existing $650 million in federal, provincial and municipal subsides for composting and biogas plants.

The idea is to dramatically reduce garbage as well as create new technologies and jobs, Sustainable Development and Environment Minister Pierre Arcand said.

"When you know that one tonne of recuperated material creates 10 times more jobs than a tonne of buried material, you realize the potential of this resource," Arcand said.

The province now produces 13 million tonnes of residential waste each year.

Quebec wants to cut the amount of garbage going to landfill sites from 810 kilograms per person in 2008 to 700 kilograms by 2015.

Read more : http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Waste+management+extra+million+from+Quebec/4443174/story.html

Turning pig waste to energy

SITIAWAN: A pig farm near here is set to become the first in the country to generate renewable energy from animal waste.

Dindings Farms Sdn Bhd farm manager Dr Ch’ng Chee Keong said they are currently building a biogas conversion plant to convert methane gas from waste into electricity.

“Once operational, the plant can generate up to 500kW of electricity,” he told reporters after a visit by Perak executive councillor Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon and state Veterinary Services director Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassam Nizam to the farm at Segari yesterday.

“The electricity generated will be sufficient to power up the farm, making us the first ‘green’ hog farm,” said Dr Ch’ng.

Read more : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/15/nation/8266291&sec=nation

«On joue dans nos déchets, encore et encore…»

François Cardinal
On peut dire qu’on a complètement raté l’objectif….
La dernière politique de recyclage fixait une cible de récupération des matières organiques de 60%. Or aux dernières nouvelles, le taux ne dépassait pas les… 12%!

Voilà pourquoi le ministre Arcand, ce matin en dévoilant un tout nouveau plan d’action sur les matières résiduelles, a repoussé l’objectif en 2015 en jurant que cette fois-ci serait la bonne.
J’en doute.
Au cours des dernières années, il est vrai, on a fait des pas de géant en terme de récupération des matières de base : papier, carton, verre, plastique, etc. Mais on a toujours refusé de s’attaquer sérieusement aux pelures de bananes, aux restes de rôties, au marc de café, qui pourtant constituent jusqu’à 40% de chaque sac de poubelle. C’est énorme!

Lire la suite : http://blogues.cyberpresse.ca/edito/2011/03/15/%C2%ABon-joue-dans-nos-dechets-encore-et-encore%E2%80%A6%C2%BB/

Canadian developing high-tech flatulence measurer

A Canadian government scientist has spearheaded the development of a new, high-tech measuring device combining laser beams, GPS locators and chemical detectors to more accurately gauge the amount of methane released by burping and farting cows -a significant source of the world's greenhouse gases.

A bi-national collaboration with Australian agronomists, the project was led by Sean McGinn, a senior scientist at Agriculture and AgriFood Canada's farm research centre in Lethbridge and is   detailed in the latest issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality.

Gas emissions from grazing cattle and sheep are known to be a major driver of planetary climate change. The study estimates that up to 17 per cent of the world's methane output comes from livestock.

Read more : http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Canadian+developing+high+tech+flatulence+measurer/4442970/story.html

Japan nuclear crisis prompts surging investor confidence in renewables

The crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan, will profoundly change public – and investor – perception of nuclear power. Photograph: Abc Tv/EPA

As Japan's nuclear crisis unfolds, energy and environmental experts said that investor confidence in the technology was already beginning to wane, with renewable energy and fossil fuels the likely beneficiaries.
"Shares in renewable energy industries yesterday rose while most other energy stocks fell," said Clare Brook, fund manager of leading green investment group, WHEB, in London. "This tragedy comes on top of the oil price rise, the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and unrest in the Middle East, all of which has made renewables more attractive. We would expect investment in renewables, especially solar, to increase. Nuclear has become politically unacceptable," she said.
Rupesh Madlani, a renewables analyst at Barclays Capital in London agreed. "At the very least, we would expect significant investments in nuclear power to be delayed, or deferred, for one to two years."
But some leading environmentalists who have backed the technology as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels said the accident should not slow new nuclear investment.

Read more : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/15/japan-nuclear-explosion-energy-renewables

Wind is delivering economic benefits to B.C.

Policy-makers in British Columbia have made it clear they see wind energy as an important and growing player in the province's future energy plans -driving job creation, new investment, and the delivery of clean energy. The introduction of the Clean Energy Act reflects the province's strong support for investment in a clean, renewable and low-impact electricity system.


The fastest growing source of new electricity around the world, wind energy proved its viability in the British Columbia market through BC Hydro's 2010 competitive call for clean power, with contracts for six projects totalling 534 MW of capacity. This new capacity will build on the $1.7 billion in new investment and 690 MW of new wind energy capacity installed across Canada in 2010.

Wind energy in Canada has increased almost tenfold in the last six years as governments seek ways to meet rising energy demand, reduce the environmental impacts of electricity generation and stimulate rural and industrial economic development. Canada's total installed wind energy capacity is now 4,008 MW, which is enough to provide electricity that would meet the needs of more than 1.2 million homes.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Wind+delivering+economic+benefits/4407729/story.html#ixzz1G7xhCsiN

Gasoline Summit' Solves Nothing as Biofuel Chaos Continues

German politicians met Tuesday in a hastily arranged 'Gasoline Summit' to discuss public distrust over the introduction of fuels with higher concentrations of ethanol. Politicians pledged to better inform the public about which cars can use the new fuel, but German commentators and drivers remain wary.

The introduction of a new biofuel with 10 percent ethanol content continues to provoke controversy in Germany, where consumers are rejecting the fuel in the fear that it will damage their cars. Meanwhile, supplies of regular unleaded gasoline are running low at stations across the country.

Read more : http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,749880,00.html

Le ministre promet 1 000 unités de biogaz

Bruno Le Maire a annoncé le lancement d'ici un an de ces projetslors d'une rencontre, hier, à Meucon (56) avec la FRSEA Bretagne.

14 méthaniseurs en France, 4 500 en Allemagne. Bruno Le Maire, le ministre de l'Agriculture, qui accompagnait, hier, le président de la République lors d'une visite dans le Morbihan, a rencontré la FRSEA et les Jeunes Agriculteurs de Bretagne à Vannes. Il leur a annoncé le lancement d'un appel d'offres pour un millier d'unités de méthanisation agricoles. L'objectif étant de fournir de la chaleur et de l'électricité à partir de biogaz produits par la fermentation de lisier de porcs ou de bovins et de déchets verts. « Le ministre promet un tarif de rachat de l'électricité aligné sur celui pratiqué en Allemagne », a indiqué Laurent Kerlir, le président de la FRSEA. C'est la condition sine qua non pour que les installations soient rentables. Une annonce accueillie avec réserve de la part des syndicalistes compte tenu des récents déboires du plan photovoltaïque.

Lire la suite : http://www.ouest-france.fr/actu/AgricultureDet_-Le-ministre-promet-1-000-unites-de-biogaz-_3640-1720245_actu.Htm?xtor=RSS-4&utm_source=RSS_MVI_ouest-france&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS

Clean Fuel Worsens Climate Impacts for Some Vehicle Engines

 ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2011) — A pioneering program by one of the world's largest cities to switch its vehicle fleet to clean fuel has not significantly improved harmful vehicle emissions in more than 5,000 vehicles -- and worsened some vehicles' climate impacts -- a new University of British Columbia study finds.

The study -- which explores the impacts of New Delhi, India's 2003 conversion of 90,000 buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws to compressed natural gas (CNG), a well-known "clean" fuel -- provides crucial information for other cities considering similar projects.

Of the city's more than 5,000 auto-rickshaws with two-stroke engines -- a common form of transportation in Asia and Africa -- the study found that CNG produced only minor reductions in emissions that cause air pollution and an increase in emissions that negatively impact climate change.

According to the researchers, the New Delhi's program could have achieved greater emission reductions at a cheaper price by simply upgrading two-stroke models to the cleaner, more fuel-efficient  
Read more :  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301122045.htm