Efficient electricity and heat production

Manufactured by MAN, these gas engines are custom made for biomass fuel and are robust and compact. They are designed to work reliably 24 hours a day, 7 days per week with low emissions thanks to their state of the art combustion technologies. The engines have also have low operating costs as a result of low levels of lubricant and fuel consumption as well as extended service intervals.

In a CHP plant unlike many others forms of traditional power production such as power stations the transmission and distribution losses are low and the process reuses the heat that is produced by the MAN gas engines. CHP systems have the potential to be highly fuel efficient with costs around 30% lower than conventional electricity and heating, whilst carbon emissions can be 30% lower. Typically 50% of the fuel used is converted into heat and 30% into electricity.

Energy production for smallholdings such as farms

RASE On Farm Review (PDF)

CHP plants provide an efficient energy for homes and smallholdings.

Benefits for farms:

Pollution Reduction

Using slurry on a daily basis as a fuel source for a CHP plant reduces emissions to the atmosphere, as well as reducing possible watercourse pollution from run-off. It is also possible to add other feedstocks to the plant which would normally be sent to landfill or stored/disposed of in such a way as to emit polluting gases.

Digesting Slurry

Manure management and reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions is a difficult problem on a farm. With a CHP plant this waste becomes a renewable fuel source creating reliable and cost effective power from the plant in a non-polluting way. The energy potential of slurry per tonne is low, but the overall net energy yield is significant.

Nutrient Management

The digestate that is produced can also be used for nutrient management on the farm. Digestate can be put on crops and can where appropriate be turned into a soil conditioner.

Independence

A CHP plant means energy independence and security as you are less dependent on fossil fuels and less effected by their price rises.

Energy Crops

Energy production varies depending on the fuel type used. The crops below are called energy crops as they produce high yields of power eg 1 acre (0.405 hectares) of whole crop maize has the capacity to create enough gas to generate 1kW of electrical power.

Typical energy crops include:

• Maize
• Grass
• Wheat
• Rye
• Triticale

Government View on CHP

CHP energy production is the most environmentally effective method of producing electricity in the UK, so it assists the Government in meeting its climate change targets.

“The UK Government and the agriculture industry see anaerobic digestion as the ideal way to treat slurry. As stated in DEFRA’s Shared Vision for Anaerobic Digestion, the NFU would like to see 1000 on-farm digesters by 2020. Work done by the RASE and AEA Group2 indicates that for the greatest impact, low cost AD plant should be targeted at dairy farms, starting from about 100 cows and upwards”.

There may be various government funding schemes available that can be claimed as they are focusing on subsidies for energy produced (Feed in Tariffs). Please visit this site for the full list of options: www.theade.co.uk