SOUTH WESSEX WASTE MINIMISATION GROUP: 12th June 2013, Merley House, near Wimborne, Dorset
MINUTES OF MEETING
- Present
(see attached)
- Cracking Energy Machines – the conversion of car tyres and other wastes into energy (Robin Martin)
Robin Martin from Cracking Energy Machines Ltd. explained their proposal for the conversion of car tyres and other waste into energy. The company have developed a patented process called Thermodynamic Cracking. The process breaks down complex organic molecules or hydrocarbons into simpler molecules by breaking the carbon-carbon bond. The process is for materials that become viscous during processing through heat and friction, such as plastics and tyres.
Thermodynamic cracking is not Pyrolysis; cracking enables a complete decomposition of plastics/rubber or RDF without any emissions into the atmosphere.
It is an extremely commercially viable solution that can take many different materials as input to produce combustible hydro carbons.
Robin went through various figures which showed the benefits of the technology.
For further details:
Cracking Energy Machines LtdUK Agents
The Office BuildingHarman Martin Ltd
Gatwick RoadRobin Martin
Crawley07967 233062
West SussexSteve Harman
RH10 9RZ07528 208387
Tel: +44 (0) 1293 847480
The full presentation can be located on the SWWMG website at
- BV Dairy – the AD plant (Rachel Mattinson)
Rachel Mattinson from BV Dairy based in Shaftesbury, provided an update in regard to the AD plant on site which takes wastes from the dairy process and produces electricity for the dairy. The plant has won 2 awards since its opening in 2011. However, last summer they encountered a problem when the build of gas in the dome was not ejected correctly due to a sludge build up in the gas line and the pressure relief valve not working which caused the 2 membranes to rupture. This had various expensive consequences on the operation which is now back to normal operation. The company are now looking into renewable heat from the process.
The full presentation can be located on the SWWMG website at
- Ethical Re-sourcing through equipment remanufacture (Bob Fuller – Mole Valley Systems)
Mole Valley systems is a privately owned company, based in Gillingham and are a specialist equipment remanufacturer.
Although the company remanufacture equipment for various industries, including Defence, Aerospace and ICT, Bob talked specifically about the remanufacture of photocopiers.
The 3 largest remanufacturing and reuse markets are:
-Defence and Aerospace (£2.2 billion)
-ICT (£480 million) – this includes photocopiers
-Automotive (£500 million)
Older style analogue photocopiers (pre 2005) were large and very expensive, restricting them to business use only, and usually prohibiting outright purchase and therefore favoured a leasing business module. At some period during the lease, the old machine would be replaced by a new machine, and the old machine would be remanufactured by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and offered for lease again, allowing the OEM to reuse the machine 3-4 times.
With the advent of digital photocopiers, the cost and size of the machines reduced considerably, making them affordable and suitable for home use. This greatly increased the number of units being sold, but made the remanufacture of photocopiers less attractive to the OEM, who favoured selling new, and saw remanufactured machines as taking away a new machine sale. OEM's preferred better sales figures compared to better margins. This has led to a large decline in remanufactured machines offered by the OEM's.
However, increases in waste legislation, such as WEEE, and higher landfill costs, have encouraged OEM's to develop new remanufacturing programs focused on the reuse of modules and subassemblies. Photocopier manufacturers now have reuse/recycle programs, such as the Xerox Green World Alliance, that encourage the return of used parts and they are designing products for reuse.
Reuse is typically split into 4 hierarchies:
1 -Reuse of the complete end item as used or new. This requires the least reprocessing, transportation and energy usage. This reuse method comprised an average of 4% of the total returns in 2011.
2 - Remanufacturing or conversion into a newer-generation product or part. Product families are designed with a high level of commonality to enable maximum reuse in this manner. This allows remanufacture to "as new" performance specifications while reusing 70–90% of the machine components by weight without degradation of quality or performance. Nearly 30% of machines returned are sent for remanufacturing of some sort.
3 - Reuse of major modules, subcomponents, and parts for spares or manufacturing. Machines which have outlived their useful life are stripped of useful parts and components prior to the scrap/reclaim process. Used spare parts returned from the field are also considered for this reuse stream. In 2011, over 250,000 parts at Xerox alone were stripped off of used machines and sent back out to the field for reuse either in manufacturing or as repair parts representing a 27% increase over 2010.
4 - Material recycling. Any remaining portion of a machine after the above processes have been followed is stripped of any recyclable material (e.g., plastics, copper wire) and material requiring special disposal services, such as PCBs, batteries and lamps. The remainder of the machine is then crushed and sent to a scrap metal reclaim facility.
Changes in volumes of waste diverted from landfills as a result of these programs have risen steadily since 2008. For Xerox alone, the total is now in excess of 6,000 metric tons that is not reaching landfill. At MVS, on average approximately 150 metric tons per year is diverted from landfill.
AT MVS the goods arrive packaged directly from our OEM. The material is not classified as WEEE. We unpack the products and give them a first check for the extent of any damage, and sort as needed.
The assemblies then move into a sectioned off cleaning area where any residual toner is removed and some light cleaning is performed. We re-inspect for any damage and remove any modules that are beyond repair.
They then pass into the dismantling area where our technicians take apart the various components, replace items according to a defined BOM, and perform a more thorough cleaning before reassembly.
The next stage is testing, where the assembly is checked for proper mechanical and electrical performance, as well as acoustic levels. Obviously, you don’t want to have a photocopier that is squeaking or making excessive noise. As a final check the modules are inserted into a machine where a system check is performed.
On successful completion, all the products pass through QA for final inspection and sign off, before being re-labelled and packed in new individual boxes.
These modules are then returned to the OEM, where they are used by their service department as spares.
For further details:
Mole Valley Systems Ltd
Unit 4
Brickfields Business Park
Gillingham
Dorset
UK
SP8 4PX
Tel: +44 (0)1747 834800
Email:
- Compressed Air Leak Service (Trevor Muddimer)
Trevor provided an update in regard to the compressed air leak service:
Generally,around 10% of a company’s electricity is used to run the air compressor(s).
Leakage ranges from 10% to 30% of the Compressed Air, with worst cases, up to ~50%.
Leak repairs are usually simple – jubilee pipe clips, loose joints, with hardware repairs being minimal.
Some leaks are visible i.e. leave a black mark on walls etc.
Ultrasonic sound detection is needed, because on average only ~5% of leaks are loud enough to hear.
It follows that 95% of leaks are undetected, hence remain unrepaired.
Also located are gas leaks such as Welding gas, Argon, Helium, Nitrogen, or Co2.
Since 2011, nearly 1,000 leaks in 75 companies have been located. (running 109 compressors)
Total of £233,000 per year in estimated savings.
Total Emissions saved =1,103 Tonnes CO2equivalent to 1,103 hot air balloons.
Saving £23,500 per year for one large Company!
Survey and Report Services:
Charges are aligned to the survey area.
The report produced shows estimated cost per leak per year, and the annual total – allowing prioritised repairs.
The Leak Cost calculations use:
the leak Sound level (dB),
Air pressure (psi or bar),
Availability period (hours per year),
and Cost per Kwh (typically 9-12p/Kwh).
- Rainbarrow AD Plant (Nick Finding – JV Energen)
Nick explained that the AD plant is a joint venture initiative between JV Farming and JV Energen.
Why AD?
REQUIREMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE BREAK CROPS
PREFERENCE FOR ORGANIC FERTILISERS
VISION TO PURSUE RENEWABLE ENERGY
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
DUCHY OF CORNWALL’S NEED FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AT POUNDBURY
Nick then explained the processes at Rainbarrow:
Feedstocks
24,000 tonnes Maize
10,000 tonnes Grass
4,000 tonnes potato waste
Small amounts of chocolate andmuesli from local Poundburyfactories
Whey
More recently separated andtreated food waste
Full biogas production of 850 m³/hour achieved 15.11.12
CHP Production
Started generating electricity 30.03.12
Producing circa 10 MW/day
Around 5 MW/day being utilised to power all the plant, and exporting enough for 500 x 3bedroom houses averaging 3300 kWh/year
Hoping for 8300 hours operation per year.
Gas Upgrading
The first Biogas from any large scale AD plant in the UK was cleaned and injected as
Biomethane into the National Grid on 11thOctober 2012
We can produce minimum 96% pure methane which then has propane and odouriser added to provide circa 400 cu m/hour for injection into the local gas grid
network as 'green gas'
The plant will produce enough gas for the annual requirements of 3,200 new
build houses. The gas will reach around 4,000 homes in the winter and 56,000
homes in the summer.
Digestate
Potential production of 23,000 tonnes of liquid, and 8,000 tonnes of solid
digestate per year.
Will take the place of bagged inorganic fertiliser on farms growing feedstock.
Will provide circa 4kg Nitrogen, 1kg Phosphate and 2kg Potash per tonne
of material.
Consists of many other beneficialnutrients and will act as an excellentsoil conditioner on our chalk soils.
Usage on all crops will significantly increase food production in arable crops, and grass production for cattle.
Trials are being commissioned for 2013 to establish the value and availability of
digestate using Earthcare Ltd under the guidance of Anna Becvar
For further details go to
- Transition to a low carbon economy – from the bottom up (Gwyn Jones)
Gwyn discussed the transition to a low carbon economy which looks at how we can live sustainably. The transition initiative is all about communities working together in many areas such as food, transport, energy, education, housing, waste, climate change etc.
Transition Network supports community-led responses to climate change and shrinking supplies of cheap energy, building resilience and happiness.
The Big Questions:
What happens when we reach Peak Oil?
How do we adapt to Climate Change?
How do we survive the next economic crash?
What would be impacted:
Transport
Food
Work
Clothes
Holidays
Buildings
Heating
Lighting
Business
Education
What’s your plan?
Ignore it?
Dismiss it?
Do nothing?
Wait for someone else to solve it?
TECHNOLOGY!!
Pray?
Transition’s first response: “Energy Descent Plans”
Less affected, less dependent
More resilient, more self-reliant, more community-based
Resilience:
Working and living within the natural world (Permaculture)
Renewable energy sources
Enough: using less, living more
Sharing, Collaborating
Local Community: streets/towns
Independence...
Self-sufficiency
Skills: repairing, making,
Resources: using less, up-cycling, re-cycling, re-using
Food: Growing; Cooking; Buying: “LOAF” Local, Organic, Animal-Friendly, FairTrade
Consultation: local councils (community, environment, development)
Education, training, support
For further details contact Gwyn on 0779 563 2607
- Fracking
Hydrocarbons in Dorset: A Planning Perspective (Mike Garrity – DCC)
Mike introduced his presentation by explaining what fracking is: it is the process of obtaining shale gas by pumping water at high pressure into shale formations to create fractures to release the gases.
The potential risks:
•Seismic tremors, depending on scale of operation and geology
•Pollution of ground water or aquifers (in the event of chemical frac fluid leakages)
•Associated health impacts
•Potential for disturbance of Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site – risk of rock falls etc?
•Impacts on communities – noise, vibration
•Associated impacts: visual, light pollution, vehicular movements
•Localised impacts upon ecology
•Cumulative impacts
Mike then explained the national planning policy framework for unconventional hydrocarbons.
George Osborne in his budget speech said:
•I want Britain to “tap into new sources of low cost energy like shale gas”.
•By July 2013 new planning guidance would be available alongside proposals to allow local communities to benefit from having shale gas wells in their areas.
•“Shale gas is part of the future. And we will make it happen”.
Shale Gas – Licensing and Planning
•No shale gas activity in Dorset currently and it is not clear if there is potential for shale gas extraction
•DECC issues Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences (PEDL) to selected companies for specific geographical areas
•These do not provide rights of access and the licensee needs to obtain the necessary planning consents
•Separate environmental permit from Environment Agency also required
•DECC would then consider an application to drill, and HSE would be involved.
•There are three stages – exploration, appraisal and production/development and each requires separate planning permission.
•Planning applications need to have regard to the Local Plan policy framework
The Dorset Context:
•Internationally protected heathland and wetland habitats
•Two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
•Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site
•Important archaeological and other historic assets
•A myriad of local designations
•Existing mineral interests – stone, ball clay, sand and gravel, oil and gas
Mike then gave some details in regard to the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Minerals and Waste Development Framework which includes hydrocarbons.
The Future:
–Government intending to publish further statement on shale gas later this year
–Once adopted, the Minerals Strategy will set out the policy context for considering proposals, should any come forward
–As is the case with any planning application, all proposals will be considered on their merits having regard to the policies of the Local Plan
–Government will issue final consent once planning permission/permits are in place
–The Minerals Strategy provides the tools to consider potential impacts
Extreme Energy in the British Isles (Andrew West – Frack Off)
Andrew discussed the problems with shale oil, coal bed methane and underground coal gasification technologies.
He went through various case studies illustrating the issues with these technologies which have been used extensively in the US, Australia and Canada.
On one side of A4:
To create a significant shale industry in the UK we estimate 90,000 wells between now and 2040. At 8 per square mile that requires a land area of Wales and a half.
Our figures are not so far off Bloombergs:
More about well numbers:
Damage to other industries
There have only been 200 onshore gas wells drilled in the UK in the last 200 years. 6% of Gas wells fail on installation and more than half fail after 30 years. The regulators are having their budgets cut and due to the industries diffuse nature it is intrinsically hard to regulate.
The impacts of Unconventional Gas:
The shale gas boom is a bubble fuelled by finance in the US.
This piece explores the economics of the industry.
It is not just us saying this:
More:
- Date and Venue of next meeting: Wednesday 18th September 2013, Merley House, Wimborne.