Supply – Chain - Opportunities

Anaerobic Digestion Explained @Marches Biogas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJzjgCto5FM

Rural Enterprise – On Farm Diversification Opportunity On Dairy farms the average Farm Business Income increased from £52,971 in 2010/11 to £58,124 in 2011/12, which is an increase of £5,153 per farm. http://www.dardni.gov.uk/farm_incomes_in_northern_ireland_2011-13.pdf Farming is typically asset rich cash poor and matching business diversification opportunities with the existing skill set within the farm management team can also sometimes be a challenge in terms of available free time and capital cost. Increasing farming incomes are constrained by a range of factors -: size of land holding, availability of con-acre, size of family engaged in the existing enterprise. While 500kW AD Biogas projects are stand alone businesses in terms of size and scale, requiring long term planning, crop management, harvesting and agronomy skills as well as a supply of cattle slurry the income return is significant over the life of the project. The 100Kw plants are a direct bolt-on to existing Dairy farm enterprises with a sufficient provision of cattle slurry (500 cow equivalent) the guaranteed annual income from this size of AD plant is £40,000 per year - £600,000 for the life of the project (15 years) The AAE business model includes 100% capital expenditure costs including NIE grid connection and associated charges. Rural Enterprise – On Farm Diversification Opportunity On Dairy farms the average Farm Business Income increased from £52,971 in 2010/11 to £58,124 in 2011/12, which is an increase of £5,153 per farm. http://www.dardni.gov.uk/farm_incomes_in_northern_ireland_2011-13.pdf Farming is typically asset rich cash poor and matching business diversification opportunities with the existing skill set within the farm management team can also sometimes be a challenge in terms of available free time and capital cost. Increasing farming incomes are constrained by a range of factors -: size of land holding, availability of con-acre, size of family engaged in the existing enterprise etc. On farm Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Biogas production can be an excellent fit for farming enterprises of a certain size. Assured Asset Energy has funded 10+ 500kW AD Biogas plants across N Ireland and is about to fund a similar number of 100kW AD Biogas plants in the coming months. While the 500Kw projects are stand alone businesses in terms of size and scale requiring long term planning, crop management, harvesting and agronomy skills as well as a supply of cattle slurry the income return is significant over the life of the project. The 100Kw plants are a direct bolt-on to existing Dairy farm enterprises with a sufficient provision of cattle slurry (500 cow equivalent) the guaranteed annual income from this size of AD plant is £40,000 per year - £600,000 for the life of the project (15 years) The Assured Asset Energy business model includes 100% funding of the full capital expenditure including NIE Grid connections.

AAE £27 Million Investment 10 500kW Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Plants operatingor due to be completed by April 2015

Introduction of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC’s) Resulted in approximately 2000 Approved Northern Ireland Planning Applications for “Renewable Energy” projects between 2009 – 2013. Less than 5% of these applications were for On Farm Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Plants. A sample (85) taken between 2010-13 of AD proposals highlights a high % of successful applications were within highland farm land areas where there is raised awareness of Renewable Energy as a result of wind farms proliferating. Following the ROC’s !

County Projects L’DERRY 13 TYRONE 32 ANTRIM 18 FERMANAGH 7 DOWN 6 ARMAGH 9 Total 85

Anaerobic Digestion by-products include liquid & biosolids with a 99% pathogen kill, this helps reduce the cross contamination of livestock when applied to grazing land. Anaerobic Digestion bio-solids are plant ready so they deliver available nutrients immediately and are more cost effective than spreading slurry. Future R&D will allow farmers the option to add value to the bio-solid portion of the digestate and sell this material to horticultural organisations currently migrating from the use of peat and experimenting with biomass materials. It is agreed that pre-intensive farming practices that included land spreading farm yard manure had a reduced risk of infection or negative environmental impact on farm land or water courses. Current intensive farming practices include land spreading of cattle slurry which has enormous potential for cross infection of livestock and run off into water courses. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) like N Ireland urgently needs a complete solution to a farming problem that can be administered by the farming community Anaerobic Digestion by-products include liquid & bio solids with a 99% pathogen kill, this helps reduce the cross contamination of livestock when applied to grazing land. Anaerobic Digestion bio-solids are plant ready so they deliver available nutrients immediately and are more cost effective than spreading slurry. Future R&D will allow farmers the option to add value to the bio-solid portion of the digestate and sell this material to horticultural organisations currently migrating from the use of peat and experimenting with biomass materials. http://www.dardni.gov.uk/tb-slurry-lit-review.pdf

Digestate Upgrading The first step in upgrading is usually dewatering of the digestate using a screw press or decanting centrifuge. This yields: a solid fraction, containing most of the phosphates and organic dry matter (ODM); And a liquid fraction containing most of the nitrogen and potassium. In Nitrate Vulnerable Zones we can remove the NVZ stigma from the N Ireland & UK farmers. Digestate, the material remaining after the anaerobic digestion of a biodegradable feedstock, is excellent fertilizer replacement. It can be used on-site immediately or upgraded to a more easily packaged and/or transportable form.  The first step in upgrading is usually dewatering of the digestate using a screw press or decanting centrifuge. This yields:a solid fraction, containing most of the phosphates and organic dry matter (ODM); and a liquid fraction containing most of the nitrogen and potassium.   The solid fraction can be pelletized directly, or mixed with sawdust and turned into energy pellets. These can then be sold to energy companies or used on site in a biomass combustion system. These options usually increases the economic prospects of a project

Digestate Bio-solids Pelletised

Excess Heat Utilisation AD facilities produce more heat than required for their own consumption. There are a range of options such as: The Fluid Bed Dryer or Where available Food Dairy Production The Fluid Bed Dryer AD facilities produce more heat than required for their own consumption. This heat can be used for drying. There are a range of options including : The Fluid Bed Dryer (FBD) which has excellent efficiency, meaning that for every kW of thermal energy a relative large amount of water can evaporate. With back mixing it is possible to dry the digestate, with only 10% dry matter content, immediately. No prior drying is required. High temperatures are possible. This means that the exhaust gasses from the CHP-plant can be used directly. The end product is a dry powder or granulate.

Morocco is the Saudi Arabia of phosphate North America dominates global potash supply, and East Asian nitrogen. But phosphate depends largely on one country. More than 75% of global phosphate reserves are in Morocco, and the disputed areas of the Western Sahara it controls. Morocco also controls about a third of seaborne trade.

Biogas Upgrading Biogas can be upgraded to Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) quality. This can then be used as vehicle fuel or mixed into an existing grid. There are several options for upgrading the biogas.

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