Brilliant Pig Farmers in China

Chris Maltin arrived with a sunny smile at the Dream Farm workshop organised by ISIS on a bright, clear Saturday morning in January 2006.

He has driven to the venue at Kindersley Centre in Sheepdrove Organic Farm Berkshire in his Mercedes People Carrier, and was eager to show it off to everybody. It is not just any Mercedes People Carrier, but one specially built to run on methane gas; and not just any methane gas, but methane obtained from treating organic wastes in a special anaerobic digester that Maltin has designed.

Maltin, founder and CEO of Organic Power Ltd., a company based in Somerset, has been keen on anaerobic digestion for many years. “Anaerobic digestion converts biomass directly to useful fuel without any intermediate steps, the conversion efficiency is very high compared to other alternatives such as bioethanol or biodiesel.” He says. “It can handle a variety of wet substrates ranging from green garden waste, septic tank wastes, kitchen waste, energy crops and a variety of other organic materials in industrial byproducts or wastes.” (See “Dream Farm” SiS 27; and “Dream Farm II”, SiS 29.)

SNIP

Some 200 m tonnes of municipal solid wastes are generated each year in the European Community, 4 60 to 70 percent of which is probably organic. In addition, hundreds of tonnes of livestock manure and crop wastes are produced on European farms. Much of this organic waste is going to waste in landfills or incinerators. The UK topped the league of EU nations by sending more than 70 percent of its municipal wastes to landfills in 2003,5 releasing methane into the atmosphere and poisoning land and water.

Instead of which, the organic wastes could be treated in anaerobic digesters to provide methane for fuel, rich fertilisers for crops, and much cleaner land, water and air.

“Using biogas produced from organic materials in the UK and uprating this to renewable natural gas could provide 20 percent UK's vehicle fuel.” Says Chris Maltin.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Waste-Powered-Cars.php