Review of the Literature on the Economics of Central Anaerobic Digesters

Minnesota can improve the utilization of manure and organic wastes via the production of biogas that can be used to produce heat and electricity. Denmark serves as a role model for Minnesota in the number of central anaerobic digesters that it supports. During anaerobic digestion methane is produced when naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria decompose organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This process produces what is called biogas, which usually is a mixture of 55 – 65 percent methane plus carbon dioxide with trace gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Co-generation using manure and other feedstocks can produce more energy than manure alone. Central digesters are more likely to process wastes from food processing plants and other sources resulting in the need for more specialized unloading facilities and larger storage spaces. Digesters can be owned by farmers or consumers cooperatives, third party/non-farming investor(s), state or municipal government, or established as a cooperative or limited liability corporation. Problems associated with centralized digester operation include capital constraints, low profitability, lower-than-expected waste availability, electricity connection and pricing, and waste disposal constraints.Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Car Industry developments – oil industry challenges

Automotive industry of Europe is one of the greatest economical powers, the „engine of Europe”. It employs directly 2.2 million people and 10 million in related industries and services. Combined turnover of automotive manufacturers reaches 700 billion EUR (retail another 520 billion EUR). The industry is the largest R&D investor in EU. On the other hand the transport sector carries a huge safety and environmental risk. Thanks to this fact the automotive industry is one of the most regulated sectors in the EU. As a result of these regulations: one average car built in 1970s produced as many pollutant elements as one hundred cars manufactured today. These achievements are based on struggles of both the auto and oil industry as parallel with technology development in car industry fuel quality developments achieved by the oil industry drove to a much “cleaner” fuel quality (unleaded sulphur free petrol, reduction of aromatics, benzene; sulphur free diesel, reduction of density, poly-aromatics, etc.). In the end of the 1990s, and especially for the last few years new challenges came into the focus of the auto and oil industry of the EU and the world. Concerns about high energy prices and price volatility, security of worldwide oil supply and climate change became a main policy agenda of the EU and the world. This new policy is reflected in new regulatory initiatives requiring cars using less energy more efficiently, emitting less carbondioxide and using growing proportion of renewable fuels. The European Commission declared the idea of “Cars for Fuels” instead of “Fuels for Cars”. This article discusses in detail the regulations and challenges that rose towards oil and car industry during the recent years. It describes the possible solutions in order to fulfil the requirements of the EU. After that a wide picture is presented without going into much detail on developments of the automotive industry. Developments are divided between vehicle level, engine level and fuel level technologies, also paying attention to technologies that are less known or rather futuristic

Biogas Production and Engine Conversion From Diesel Engine to Biogas Engine for Lighting in Rural Area

The research of alternative fuels implemented in internal combustion engines are becoming the subjects of interest nowadays. This paper describes a production of biogas from cow dung, diesel engine conversion process with piston modification of ZH1115 diesel engine. To produce biogas, the usual practice is to mix water with some organic material, such as cow dung (a free source of the appropriate micro-organisms). The slurry is placed in a leak-proof container (called a digester) and leaves it to ferment. After several days at suitable temperature, sufficient methane will have formed to make a combustible gas. Fix dome type of biogas plant is chosen in this gas production for cost saving and to produce sufficient gas at lower temperature. The biogas engine which are modified from diesel engine emphases the ignition system, gas governing and carburetion systems along with a change in compression ratio, in some cases also a change in the combustion chamber. Since diesel engine cannot be operated by biogas alone, this paper covers the conversion of diesel to spark ignition engine i.e. conversion of four stroke of ZH1115 diesel engine to biogas engine based on 30 biogas inlet holes which was recommended by the experienced designers. This paper also describes methods of reducing compression ratio, changing ignition system with timing and fueling system, the comparisons of technical parameters and performance between ZH1115 diesel engine and converted biogas engine. It describes the criteria of technological selections, engineering aspects and short term and long term plans for lighting. The goal to develop and implement BIOGAS engine and use biogas as the renewable energy and bio-fertilizer is to control pollution, to protect environment, to develop rural area and also to reach the ambitious emissions goals and to reduce dependence on imported foreign oil

MTSU Alternative Fuel Research

Hydrogen and solar powered vehicles, biodiesel fuels, and plug in hybrid technology are among the cutting edge research projects on campus.hydrogen, solar, vehicle, biodiesel, plug in hybrid, alternative fuel, automotive manufacturing, research, hybrid, MTSU

Biogas appliances in Sub-Sahara Africa

Acknowledgement The authors are grateful to DFID for the financial support granted through The New and Emerging Technologies Research Competition (NET-RC). We also want to thank numerous authors, staff at CREEC and Uganda Domestic program who work tirelessly to provide the know-how, books, articles on biogas technology whose works were made reference to.Peer reviewedPostprin

Barriers to Adoption of Methane Digester Technology on California Dairies

The goal of this research was to analyze the barriers to adoption of methane digesters on California dairies. Methane digesters have long existed as a technology in the dairy industry, both in the United States and abroad. Much research has been done to attest to the viability and economic sustainability of methane digesters; however in 2014, there were 26 dairies in California that have methane digesters installed, and of these, only 17 of those were still in operation, according to the USEPA AgStar Anaerobic Digester Database. Hence, the question remains, as to why this technology has not been widely adopted at the farm level. Of the 12 interviews conducted, four were with dairies which housed operational digesters. Four more assessed dairies where digesters were no longer operational and an additional four were conducted with dairies that were considering implementing this technology. Results from the interviews were analyzed using qualitative methods to categorize and interpret the textual data collected. The study found a low level of understanding or competence in the amount of training and technical support necessary for dairy farmers in the installation, operation and long-term maintenance of methane digesters. The study identified initial costs of implementing combined with low negotiated energy prices and changing emissions regulations were among the main reasons for a lack of adoption in California. In addition, the study found geographic location and changing emissions regulations were main factors in the success or failure of this technology. Furthermore, the studies observed those dairies with a third party management contract were the most successful with their digester systems. Most participants of this study view the widespread adoption at the farm level as unlikely at this time

Alternative Fuels and Technologies for Short Sea Shipping

Awareness of the consequences of excessive greenhouse gas emissions in maritime transport has prompted research on the use of alternative fuels and technology, towards environmentally neutral ship propulsion, which has resulted in a number of possibilities. This review provides a systematic overview of the current state of use of ship propulsion and alternative options from the aspect of costs, infrastructure, regulations, availability, environmental protection, technology and the perspective of complete decarbonisation by 2050

Calculating CARMA: Global Estimation of CO2 Emissions from the Power Sector

This paper provides a detailed description and assessment of CARMA (Carbon Monitoring for Action), a database that reports CO2 emissions from the power sector. We built CARMA to assist the millions of concerned global citizens who can act to reduce carbon emissions once they have timely, accurate information about emissions sources. CARMA also lays the groundwork for the global monitoring system that will be necessary to ensure the credibility of any post-Kyoto carbon emissions limitation agreement. CARMA focuses on the power sector because it is the largest carbon dioxide emitter (26% of the global total), and because power plants are much better-documented than many sources of carbon emissions. The CARMA database and website put anyone with web access a few keystrokes away from detailed knowledge about power plants and the companies that own and operate them. CARMA includes many aggregation tools, so it can be used for local, regional, national and international comparisons. The database also offers complete information about power plants and companies that do not emit carbon because they use non-fossil energy sources (nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, biofuels, geothermal, etc.). In this paper, we provide a description of CARMA’s methodology, an assessment of its strengths and weaknesses, and some tests of its accuracy across countries and at different geographical scales. While CARMA performs well in these tests, we recognize that it is far from perfect. We therefore extend the following invitation to any power plant or company that disputes our estimates: Provide us with better data, verified by an appropriate third party, and we will incorporate them in CARMA.global warming, climate change, emissions, energy

Alternative Energy from Waste

Municipal solid waste management is one of the major problems in almost all major cities all over the world. A variety of technologies have been employed to manage the problem of solid waste as well as the conversion of waste to clean energy. The constant rise in the world’s population invariably gives rise to more waste production as well as rise in energy demands which places a strain on already existing energy resources like fossil. Waste in the 21st century is no more seen as ‘waste’ as it were but a resource which can be transformed into various forms and uses like energy. Therefore waste multi-reuse and conversion should be given priority in developing countries, for a better solution of waste control and management. This will not only reduce the ecological and environmental damage caused by pollution, but also reduce the energy demand and consumption and, thus, save primary energy. This paper presents the challenge of waste in the environment and makes a case for the potential of converting this waste to energy. It further discusses six methods of waste to energy conversion, their environmental impacts, merits and demerits of each method and finally gives recommendations for use cases for each method