Training in biogas technology

Three Maltese engineers and scientific officers recently participated in a four-day biogas study tour in the UK organised by the International Biogas and Bioenergy Competence Centre (IBBK), Germany.

The participants were Ing. Marco Cremona of Sustech Consulting, Noel Azzopardi, a scientific officer within the Animal Husbandry Section, MRAE, and Ing. Norman Falzon, engineer with Wasteserv Malta Ltd.

Biogas technology relates to the treatment of organic matter (municipal solid waste, manures and slurries, agricultural wastes) for the production of biogas (a fuel), which can then be used to produce electricity.

Energy from biogas technology is considered a renewable energy source (RES). The process also results in a pathogen-free nutrient-rich material which can be applied to the fields as a fertiliser and soil conditioner.

The tour programme included visits to various biogas and landfill gas installations in Wales and England, including a visit to the centralised anaerobic digestion plant in Holsworthy in Devon.

This plant processes 146,000 tonnes per annum of cattle, pig and poultry manure plus organic food waste. The gas production is 3.9 million cubic metres of methane per year, which is used to run two gas engines having a total installed power capacity of 2.1 MW. That's enough electrical power to supply 1,500 households with their electricity needs for a year.

Sustech Consulting and IBBK have been entrusted with the development of an agricultural waste management plan for Malta for the MRAE.