Global watch

A look at what’s happening around the world in the waste conversion sector.

Herten, Germany

Lockheed Martin and Concord Blue begin next phase on bioenergy facility

Five thousand homes and businesses in Herten, Germany, will soon benefit from a clean, renewable energy source as Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Maryland, and Concord Blue, Los Angeles, begin phase two of a new power generation facility that will transform waste into energy. Under phase two, Concord Blue has awarded Lockheed Martin Energy a $43 million contract to proceed with all engineering, procurement and construction of the 5 megawatt plant with a planned completion date in 2017.

The bioenergy facility transforms forestry waste to power using Concord Blue’s Reformer technology. Concord Blue’s patented solution converts waste material using heat transfer. The facility’s 5 megawatts of energy output is enough to power about 5,000 homes and businesses. To create its power, the plant will process 50,000 tons of raw waste per year.

Naivasha, Kenya

Tropical Power is helping East Africa farm take a bite out of carbon emissions

The Gorge Farm Energy Park in Naivasha, Kenya, uses organic waste and sunlight to produce renewable power. Gorge Farm is Africa’s first grid-connected anaerobic digester plant. It was developed by U.K.-based Tropical Power and is operated by independent power producer Biojoule. The vegetable farm, also the largest fresh-produce exporter in East Africa, converts 150 metric tons of fresh organic waste into biogas each day using the two-stage anaerobic digestive plant. The biogas is then combusted and converted into electricity.

Gorge Farm Energy Park has an installed capacity of 2.8 megawatts with a net output of 2.2 megawatts. The plant is powered by GE J420 Jenbacher engines. By displacing oil-fired generation from the grid, Gorge Farm Park reduces carbon emissions by 7,000 metric tons per year.

The Arandas, Mexico

Tequila Cazadores distillery uses biofuel

The Arandas, Mexico-based Tequila Cazadores distillery installed a biomass boiler that is designed to harness as much green energy as it can from the discards made during regular production of the brand’s top-shelf spirits. The ashes created within the boiler are used for composting and transformed into a nutrient-rich soil supplement.

About 60 percent of the biofuel used to produce Tequila Cazadores comes from spent agave fibers, which equates to about 11,000 tons per year. The other 40 percent is made up of about 8,000 tons of carbon-neutral, renewable fuel sources. The organic materials are transformed into the fuel needed to generate the steam power required for the agave sugar extraction process, cooking and distillation of the brand’s tequila.

June 2016
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