"First energy-independent biofuels facility in the world"

[leftupnorth]

Excerpted without permission (but I subscribe) From June 2006 Ethanol Producer magazine:

Easy to Digest

By Dave Nilles


Five years ago, Richard Marshall and Alexander Kopp set their sights on the fuel ethanol industry. With a grandiose vision and plenty of know-how, they hatched a plan that they then believed—and still believe—could revolutionize even the most basic standards of the ethanol industry.

Flash forward to today. Marshall and Kopp—and their unique anaerobic digestion process—may be on the precipice of opening the door to energy independence even wider. By utilizing and updating proven technology, Marshall and Kopp’s EnviroPlus process may allow both new and existing ethanol facilities to become fossil-fuel free and energy independent through the creation of “green” power.

<snip>

The anaerobic digestion process does not dry the grain slurry, but rather ferments the grain in a series of vessels to generate vast quantities of biogas. This gas consists of approximately 65 percent methane and 35 percent carbon dioxide. There are several options for the gas, both of which provide great paybacks to the ethanol facility.
If an additional gas turbine is installed, the methane can be used to produce “green” power for the ethanol facility to operate. Marshall and Kopp believe the EnviroPlus process provides enough power to completely eliminate the ethanol plant’s traditional energy needs. The generation facility will produce up to 66 percent more electricity than the ethanol facility requires, according to Marshall. In addition, the turbine exhaust gases generate all the steam needed for the ethanol facility. “We require no outside energy—no outside gas or steam,” Marshall says. “We generate everything internally.”

<snip>

Marshall and Kopp plan on implementing the EnviroPlus system commercially at Okanagan Biofuels in Kelowna, British Columbia. Kopp is president of Okanagan, which consists of an existing 12 MMgy distillery with an 80-car rail siding. They hope to begin construction this fall on the project, which they hope will be a showcase of the EnviroPlus process. “Eighteen months from now, we should be the first energy-independent biofuels facility in the world,” Kopp says.

<snip>

from my understanding, this could also be applied in cellulosic ethanol production.

this is exciting stuff, no matter what your opinion of ethanol is.

[napi21]

1. THAT'S terrific! A completely self contained and independan facility!

Good. I sure hopw thie proves to work.

[4dsc]

2. Brazil comes to mind..

If I am not mistaken, many of the ethanol plants in Brazil are run totally on the waste material of the sugar cane... I could be wrong and it would be interesting to find out more..

[Gregorian]

3. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the spent grain.

It's not a new idea. In the early 80's I was lucky to experience a generating system similar to this. The city of Mountain View had an extensive collection system for methane, from their waste disposal site. And these big diesel engines were just running day and night, generating electricity. But you need a waste disposal site. It's almost funny- generating power from the garbage American consumers throw away. And only some of the garbage. Mostly organic stuff. Tricycles and lawnmowers don't do much for methane production.

Hey, mountains of grain husks. It could be worse. I'm sure Budweiser has that one figured out.