Using waste from forestry residues

At the PCA conference in July I attended a presentation from Sohum Gandhi.  The presentation did not disappoint.  Sohum has been increasingly involved with biomass fuels in an attempt to provide clients with renewable and low-cost energy alternatives.

Sohum focused his presentation on a company that had switched from Natural Gas to biomass fuels because of the increase in gas price.  He concentrated on the required custom design boiler and fuel storage bunker.   The process is followed through from start to commissioning.   The example used had a payback period of less than four-years and offset 60,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

A few weeks after the conference I contacted Sohum to discuss the system, he had helped design in New Zealand, and other ongoing projects.  With coal becoming highly taxed, renewable energy, which is carbon neutral like woodchip, is seen as a serious alternative.   Sohum explained to me that it does not necessarily have to be woodchip but other types of waste product.  An example he used was potentially using macadamia nut shells in Australia.  It is very interesting and logical that we may potentially have renewable waste, which could be used, right on our doorstep!

Recently T&G covered crops announced a project that will take food waste, recover energy and turn that into electricity and heat.  Even though this is biogas not biomass it still is yet another example of how we can better use our resources to create wealth.  Click this link to read more about that project: https://tandg.global/waste-to-energy-plant-announced-by-minister-shane-jones/

Enriva are able to provide solutions for smaller growers with 500kw units that are delivered with integrated building, fuel store and storage tanks.  This could open up opportunities for smaller niche growing business.

Below are some extracts from the Enriva website; 

Enriva completes projects in all combinations of their three tiered focus: Energy | Engineering | Consulting. With core competencies in engineered energy plant solutions Enriva can deliver varying levels of product, service and support to your new capital works project or upgrade. In today’s economy energy efficiency and carbon responsibility have a major impact on the bottom line of a business which is why we have specialised in the development and implementation of solutions customised to unique industry requirements.

ENERGY
Enriva stands for energy, and efficiency in energy is what we strive for. Our involvement in numerous projects across the country, specifically energy from renewable biomass, have resulted in years of experience and net CO2e reductions to the environment of over 100,000 tonnes and counting. Our passion towards bringing a positive impact on your business and the environment drives our motivation to deliver projects that exceed all expectations.

ENGINEERING
Enriva engineers have a strong pedigree in mechanical engineering from leading universities around the globe. Specialisations in thermodynamics, fluids, statics and dynamics allow our team to create and analyse the design at all stages of development in order to deliver projects with unmatched performance and returns. Enriva partners with world leading technology suppliers to bring the best offerings in all products and solutions that we supply. Integrating and engineering these global smarts into our customised projects gives the client an outcome which is tailored to their specific industry unique requirements.

CONSULTING
Energy and Engineering endeavours are often capital intensive, and as a result the decision makers of an organisation tend to scope the project with utmost care to reduce investment risk and ensure it meets performance and return on investment criteria. For this reason Enriva offers the full range in Owner’s Engineer services from project development and specification, technology selection, right through to system design, planning and delivery.

For more go to http://enriva.com.au/

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Article Written by Stefan Vogrincic, Consultant, Grower2Grower

Article Edited by Marie Vogrincic, Editor, Grower2Grower