anaerobic-digestion.comIPPTS Anaerobic Digestion Community Website - Biogas Process Info

Shop Blog About Us Advertising AD Basics AD Process AD Plants AD Tech AD News AD Equipment AD Systems Biogas and AD AD Equipment AD Plant Design Home Biogas Search for: Search Welcome to our Community Promoting AD and Biogas Scroll to Learn AD, or Click a Button Below! IPPTS Anaerobic Digestion Consultancy Products SEE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION AND BIOGAS QUICK FACTS! “There's no Net Zero without Biogas: ending waste, delivering the circular economy, tackling the climate crisis.” The potential for anaerobic digestion, and the benefits of the biogas process are massive. Discover mankind's sustainable renewable energy future here! If you have seen something the looks like this, you've seen one! This website is an independent venture, by people who are simply fascinated by the subject ( read About Us) . We want to help more people see our vision for a vibrant low-carbon future, and become part of the AD technology movement. You are very welcome to spend time on this website, and we hope that you will get involved by commenting, and maybe even joining our campaign for better AD awareness, as well. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process similar to composting , but without air. As in composting, micro-organisms break down organic matter into simpler smaller compounds and reduce its bulk or “mass”. However, unlike composting, which overall always consumes energy, anaerobic digestion can be used to create energy . That is because it produces a gas known as biogas , just over half of which is methane. Everyone that lives in a developed nation and has cooked anything on a kitchen stove, using gas piped in from the street, has used methane , and knows how cleanly it burns, and how wonderfully hot the flame is, because “natural gas” is pure methane. In addition to biogas, the process also produces “digestate” , which is a solid fibrous residue, and any liquid which is left over. Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion a) Environmental Benefits Reduces carbon emissions and can contribute to national renewable energy targets Only biogas (and some carbon dioxide) is taken out, so valuable nutrients are recycled back into the soil Digestate may also be used as a feedstock for other biofuel production and for innovative fibre building materials AD creates skilled ‘green’ jobs and contributes to growth in the local economy When used in conjunction with segregated municipal waste collection, it reduces waste sent to landfill Sanitizes waste output providing a reduced public health hazard/ reduces pollution risk . b) Benefits to Those That Own and Operate AD Plants Landfill taxation costs reduced, transportation costs can be less Owning an AD plant lends authority to the owner organisation’s green credentials Possible government incentive payments available Secures a reliable long-term waste disposal route for the plant owners own waste Potential for truly profitable sales of outputs . The Anaerobic Digestion Process Renaissance Until the early 2000s, there had been a long period of cheap fossil fuel sourced power. While power was so cheap, the anaerobic digestion process was largely ignored in the west. China and India and some other nations realized its value especially to subsistence farmers and developed early versions of the now increasingly popular buried, fixed dome, household and small community biogas digester systems which they invented. Ever larger numbers of these affordable energy plants are now being built and operated, so that by 2016 literally millions of people will be benefiting from the “biogas renaissance”. In the western nations during the first half of the 20th century, anaerobic digestion had been popular among the water boards, and municipal corporations in charge of the safe disposal of sewage sludge, but almost all of those had, by then, been replaced by incinerators. Energy was so cheap that even those running those incinerator plants failed to truly realize that they were using energy, to destroy energy! That was an expensive waste, which is now being put right as large numbers of sewage sludge incinerators are being shut-down and replaced with biogas plants, the latest of which can be so efficient in making power that they can generate enough electricity to run the entire wastewater treatment works (sewage works) solely using the sludge from the works as their bio-fuel! These are just two examples of the way that the anaerobic digestion and biogas industry is now growing. The word is out now, and even if fluctuating oil prices slow growth a little through 2015, expect to see more and more biogas plants wherever you go! What is Anaerobic Digestion? Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process similar to composting , but without air. As in composting, micro-organisms break down organic matter into simpler smaller compounds and reduce its bulk or “mass”. However, unlike composting, which overall always consumes energy, anaerobic digestion can be used to create energy . That is because it produces a gas known as biogas , just over half of which is methane. Everyone that lives in a developed nation and has cooked anything on a kitchen stove, using gas piped in from the street, has used methane and knows how cleanly it burns, and how wonderfully hot the flame is, because “natural gas” is pure methane. In addition to biogas, the process also produces “digestate” , which is a solid fibrous residue, and any liquid which is left over. Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion a) Environmental Benefits Reduces carbon emissions and can contribute to national renewable energy targets Only biogas (and some carbon dioxide) is taken out, so valuable nutrients are recycled back into the soil Digestate may also be used as a feedstock for other biofuel production and for innovative fibre building materials AD creates skilled ‘green’ jobs and contributes to growth in the local economy When used in conjunction with segregated municipal waste collection, it reduces waste sent to landfill Sanitizes waste output providing a reduced public health hazard/ reduces pollution risk . b) Benefits to Those That Own and Operate AD Plants Landfill taxation costs reduced, transportation costs can be less Owning an AD plant lends authority to the owner organisation’s green credentials Possible government incentive payments available Secures a reliable long-term waste disposal route for the plant owners own waste Potential for truly profitable sales of outputs . Quick Facts About The Process 1. There are four key biological/ chemical reaction stages of anaerobic digestion: Hydrolysis Acidogenesis Acetogenesis Methanogenesis 2. Almost any organic matter can be digested anaerobically. Not all will produce enough biogas to be viable though. 3. Anaerobic digestion occurs in nature at all temperatures, but below 10 degrees centigrade the rate of biogas production is so slow that running a biogas process is usually considered not viable, for any form of biogas generation system. 4. There are two temperature ranges over which the many micro-organisms that produce biogas work most efficiently. These are known as the: Mesophilic Thermophilic Temperature ranges, with the optimum temperature usually considered to be at the top of the range. 5. The process is truly ancient: Fermentation for the production of alcohol was known to the Ancient Egyptians and is recorded as far back as 2,000 BC. The methane producing stage of anaerobic digestion is performed by a type of micro-organism known as archaea. It's not a bacteria. In fact in comes from a distinctly different branch of the phylogenetic tree of life to bacteria. Types of Anaerobic Digestion Plants – From the Smallest to the Largest DIY and Micro-Anaerobic Digestion Systems Users: Individuals and educational establishments Type: Desk-scale, laboratory and yard Equipment: -bottle and flask reactors – balloons and car type inner tubes More Info: Watch YouTube videos for demos. Household and Community Biogas Plants Users: H...