15 September 2009

Global perspectives: Biogas plant in U.K.

By Cris Whetton

German company Schmack Biogas AG won an order worth $5.84 million (€4 million) for engineering and key component supply for a biogas plant built by British water utility Severn Trent Water.

The plant at Stoke Bardolph, near Nottingham, will produce two megawatts of electricity power equivalent using some 34,500 metric tons of maize silage (whole plants) and about 2,500 metric tons of other plant silage annually, Schmack Biogas officials said. The plant should come on line in late 2009.

Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council approved planning permission to build the U.K.’s largest anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at a cost of $33.14 million (£20 million) in Selby. Selby Renewable Energy Park will build on an area of the former Tate and Lyle citric acid plant where there is an already existing AD plant currently under renovation. Proposals call for the company to build two new anaerobic digesters, so the plant will be able to treat up to a total of 165,000 metric tons of food waste each year. It will also create 8MW of energy, enough to power the whole of the town Selby (pop. 13,000). It is hoped the AD plant will provide a potential low cost heat source local businesses can use, and it will also create 120 new jobs in the area. The plans gained full support of Future Energy Yorkshire, which is a government organization set up to promote renewable energy projects in Yorkshire and Humber.

A new research program, “Towards Biosolar Cells” won a budget of $36.53 million (€25 million) by the Dutch Government. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality recommended the program because it will contribute to green energy, improve food supplies, and create a more sustainable biomass. The research focuses on increasing the efficiency of sunlight conversion into energy and building materials in plants and algae through photosynthesis. Part of the program will involve the development of artificial leaves.

Towards Biosolar Cells has three main goals:

• To increase the photosynthetic efficiency of plants, resulting in more biomass and higher energy yields per given surface area, (for instance with more, larger or heavier plants).
• Direct production of fuels and to bypass the biomass phase. Possible outcomes include photosynthetic cyanobacteria or algae that produce butanol.
• To combine natural and technological components to create solar collectors that supply fuel rather than electricity.

The initiators are six universities that will combine their international expertise in the field of photosynthesis, biophysics, biochemistry, bionanotechnology, genomics, and physiology. Thirty participating companies form a mix of start-ups, SMEs and large corporations in the energy sector, algae production, and plant breeding. In addition to the research element, another aspect focuses on education on photosynthesis. Projects will start at universities, higher vocational education facilities, and secondary schools to increase students’ interest in scientific developments related to photosynthesis.

Cris Whetton is InTech’s European correspondent.