First generation biofuels are those made from sugar, starch, or vegetable oil. Their feedstocks are those that may not be sustainable or might have an impact on food if used in large quantities. These original first generation biofuels include biodiesel, ethanol, green diesel, bioethers, biogas, and the solid biofuels covering everything from wood and sawdust […]
What does an Anaerobic Digestion expert or Anaerobic Digestion consultant do? First, let’s define Anaerobic Digestion. Anaerobic Digestion refers to is a series of processes in the absence of oxygen in which bacteria convert organic materials to biogas, digestate and water. An Anaerobic Digestion expert or Anaerobic Digestion consultant is someone who has significant background […]
Biogas experts often work with dairy farms and livestock operations that are interested in adding other technologies to produce renewable energy as a supplement to their current business. In these operations, animal manure is collected, added to other organic materials and is processed through an anaerobic digester, with the resulting biogas being utilized to produce […]
By John D. Forcier, P.E. Anaerobic Digesters provide an excellent baseload renewable energy source. Cow manure has been digested in the cow’s four stomachs and domestic wastewater has been digested in the human digestive system. Therefore, those materials have limited remaining energy, but they still have excellent methane producing bacteria. However, by adding select external […]
What does a landfill biogas expert or consultant do? Landfills are locations set specifically for disposal of residential, industrial, and commercial waste. Landfills are a very large source methane emissions. Biogas from landfills is also called landfill gas (LFG), since the digestion process takes place in the ground rather than in an anaerobic digester. There […]
What do renewable energy experts or consultants do? Renewable energy sources (RES) are ones that capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-going natural processes like sunshine, wind, flowing water, biological processes, and geothermal heat flows. Unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum that are exploited at rates that may deplete these resources in […]
By Scott Warfield This is the seventh in a series of articles prepared by the experts at Lee Enterprises Consulting (LEC) who will be speaking at the ABLC 2018 conference in Washington DC, February 28 to March 2. With respect to Susan E. Hinton for the great title, the economics of anaerobic digester projects to […]
What is biogas? Biogas is a renewable energy source that is produced by anaerobic digestion, where anaerobic organisms breakdown the organic materials, or by the fermentation of biodegradable materials. Biogas can refer to any of a wide range of gases produced from biological sources including municipal wastewater sludge, animal manures, agricultural wastes, food waste or […]
By Dr. Lorenz Bauer, Lee Enterprises Consulting After many years of development biomass pyrolysis is finally maturing as a commercial technology. Pyrolysis is not incineration. The goal is to use heat in the absence of oxygen to convert the biomass to a more useful form while preserving as much of the carbon as possible. The water […]
By Dr. Gerald Kutney, Lee Enterprises Consulting A myriad of biofuel technologies exist, but which ones are truly industrial processes? The question is not always easy to answer. And one must define what is meant by an industrial process. To facilitate this task, three classifications of industrial status are utilized: Established – modern facilities are numerous, […]