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Geothermal energy is the energy that comes from heat stored in the ground, whether from the potential energy trapped from the sun in shallow ground or the hot water and hot rock a few kilometers below the earth’s surface or from the molten magma trapped far beneath the earth’s surface.
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Geothermal energy that produces electricity originates from deep within the Earth and produces minimal emissions. When the earth heats water that has seeped into underground reservoirs, these reservoirs can be used in a variety of ways depending on the temperature of the water. The energy from high-temperature reservoirs, ranging from 225°F to 600°F can be used to produce electricity. These processes have been used in the US to generate large quantities of electricity since the dawn of the 1960’s. Today’s R and D is producing geothermal power that is more cost-effective and can compete with fossil fuels. Today there are only three types of geothermal power plants:
Lady Knox geyser in New Zealand image The most popular type of geothermal power plant is the flash steam plants that use water at temperatures of more than 360ºF. As this hot water flows up through wells in the ground, the decrease in pressure causes some of the water to boil into steam. Then, in much the same way as the dry steam plants, steam is used to power a generator, with the remaining water returning to the reservoir.
Geothermal Binary Cycle image Geothermal ResourcesSeveral factors limit the use of geothermal technologies including the limited availability of the sites, their predominance in the western states and the limits to our current drilling technologies. Luckily for personal and small use, geothermal heat pumps can be used almost anywhere. Researchers, however, are developing new technologies for capturing the heat in deeper, "dry" rocks, which would allow for productive drilling almost anywhere in North America. |
WELTEC BIOPOWER constructs 1.8 MW plant in FinlandMay 2013 WELTEC BIOPOWER biogas plant construction company from Vechta (Germany) builds a biogas plant in Jeppo (Finland). The company from Lower Saxony is implementing this project jointly with its Finnish project partner, Doranova. As early as autumn 2013, the plant will produce biomethane refined to natural gas quality, which is suitable for all consumption paths and as such also suitable as fuel for the growing network of Finnish natural gas stations. The modular design of the plant allows for the realisation of the project within a short period of time. In this, components constructed in-house such as the fermenter, pump and agitator technology are put to use; as well as separation and sanitation technologies. They are operated via a control system which WELTEC specifically developed for the optimal interaction of the components.
The plant construction company integrated an in-house innovation for the feeding of substrate – the MULTIMix: with this, fibrous input materials such as grass silage, straw or co-substrate are disintegrated. This way, these normally difficult-to-process substrates can be decomposed excellently into biogas by the bacteria. Similarly, there is the option for a foreign body separation upstream of the pump and stirring systems of the plant. In this fashion, the new feeding system reduces the stress on the stirring system as well as the wear of the Finnish plant. Furthermore, the plant operator will, in the future, also be able to flexibly choose input materials and can rely on cheap, but difficult-to-process substrates. This advantage was decisive since, in the future, additionally fox and mink excrements from a nearby fur farm are going to be processed. In the initial phase, only wastewater, grass and straw will be used as fermentation substrates. Additionally, manure from a total of three pig sties of a business located a few kilometres away will enter the fermenters via pipelines. A coordinated manure and fertiliser management assures that after the completion of the fermentation process on the one hand sufficient high quality fertiliser for the farmers of the region is available and will contribute to the nutritional supply of the surrounding fields. On the other hand, the statutory nitrogen limits in the region are adhered to so that the ground water is not overburdened with nitrate. In energy production, the Finns have to increasingly count on their own resources in order to decrease their dependency on the import of energy carriers. There is a need for this since the trade deficit in 2011 increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year. In comparison to its neighbour, Norway, which is almost completely taking care of its supply via water power generation and can export its raw materials, the Finns do not have access to any substantial oil, gas or coal reserves. Aside of a strong expansion of nuclear power, Finland is therefore most strongly counting on biomass among the renewable energies. The preferred form of utilisation is based quite considerably on the enormous supply of wood in the forest-rich country as well as the sufficiently large deposits of peat and the volume of refuse. This biomass richness ensured that in Finland in 2011 the power generation from wood biomass (22 percent) even exceeded that of nuclear power (17 percent). By comparison: only approx. three percent were generated by water power und only 0.1 percent by wind power. Photovoltaics play next to no role at all in Finland. Biogas plants are to be expanded, especially in the area of the waste industry. According to the Association for Foreign Trade, a total of more than 30 biogas plants are in concrete planning in Finland. In this, WELTEC BIOPOWER, the plant construction company from Lower Saxony, can particularly shine through its numerous references from 24 countries, among them the existing waste biogas plants in Finland, as well as its special technologies in the area of waste utilisation. This also was the decisive issue for the Finnish customer to decide for a biogas plant by WELTEC BIOPOWER. |
SECOND GENERATION AND ADVANCED BIOFUELS INDUSTRY CALLS FOR SOLID BIOFUELS REGULATIONMay 2013
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