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Making Biomass Pellets from Grass
Sep. 7, 2013 http://www.environmental-expert.com/ Grass is familiar to everyone, which is distributed all over the world, such as farmland, residential green belt and square lawn, and you can see it everywhere and anytime in a year. Generally, it is used as feed for livestock and poultry, but now it can be a treasure with the way it present changed. That is biomass pellets. The Benefits of Grass Pellets Grass pellet is a kind of green energy resource. With the wide distribution and sustainability of raw materials, the biomass pellet becomes an available alternative to traditional fuels and relieves the shortage of fossil energy. What’s more, grass pellets can help keep agricultural open space, and provide a new revenue stream and profit center to the farmers and other landowners. It has a great potential as a low-tech, small-scale, renewable energy system that can be locally produced, processed and consumed. It has a positive impact on rural communities and helps people become independent from foreign oil. Besides, grass pellet can be burned without emissions problems, and it has almost the same BTUs as wood pellet. Grass biomass pellet is much better for the environment because it emits less greenhouse gases than oil, coal and natural gas do. Furthermore, grass is perennial, does not require fertilization and can be grown on marginal farmland. Because of the rising cost of fossil fuels, the shortage of hardwood pellets and the need for energy resource, grass pellets have gained an extensive popularity. The most important point is that they can be made at home completely. Forming the grass into pellets allows the materials to be handled and stored easily, transported economically, and burned efficiently. One advantage to this method is that grasses dry in the field, which reduces the drying cost at a pellet mill. Comparison between Grass Pellet and Wood Pellet The combustion characteristics of grass pellets are different from wood pellets. Grass pellets in general will produce much higher ash content. And possibly create a clinker and slag formations. Fortunately, research has indicated that adding 20% wood pellets to the grass pellets will prevent this phenomenon. Another aspect of grass pellets that must be paid attention to before using in a pellet stove or boiler is the increased risk of corrosion. During combustion, many grass pellets at a higher temperature will generate corrosive called chloride. Most pellet stoves and boilers are designed to purely burn premium wood pellets. if grass pellets are used in most pellet stoves and boilers, it will accelerate corrosion, which could destroy the unit within a few years, so be very careful. Hemp grass pellets produce the least issues. As for people who are interested in investing in biomass pellet industry, grass pellet mill is an ideal option because of the facile raw material and good performance. The raw materials for pellet mill can be grasses everywhere from lawns, grassland, or farmland like unwanted hay, switch grass, alfalfa, straw, etc. It is very convenient for people to start grass pellet making. The only thing you need to do is obtain the grass pellet machine. Grass like weeds can be processed into pellets as fuel, in other words, the grass pellet mill can not only turn the waste materials into wealth, but also reduce the environment pollution and create economic value in commerce, which make it become more and more popular at present both at home and abroad. Now there has been a growing interest in grass pellets for the pellet fuel industries. Grass pellet mill is different from wood pellet mill in feature. Generally, grass pellet mill operates at higher speed. The lower density makes grass easier to gelatinize. Higher productivity can be achieved through higher die speed, reducing the cost of grass pellets. Grass pellet mill is featured by compact structure, low consumption and large capacity. It can utilize all kinds of grasses to make pellets as fuel, while wood pellet mill is faced with a shortage of raw materials due to the forest protection. Our grass pellet mill adopts advanced molding technology to increase the forming rate of grass pellets. The key components adopt wear-resisting materials. The main driving adopts high-precision gear drive. Imported high-quality bearing and oil seal are adopted to ensure efficient, stable and low noise whole machine operation. Therefore, our grass pellet machine is your ideal choice. Continue reading
Biomass Helping To Make Communities Greener
5 September 2013 FARMERS are being encouraged to take advantage of new opportunities to diversify created by community green energy co-operatives. The first project of its kind in the UK is seeing a community joining forces to buy shares in a £1million green energy co-operative which will cut bills at John Cleveland College, Hinkley, Leicestershire, and raise money for good causes. The biomass boilers provided by Leicestershire-based Rural Energy, a Myriad CEG company, will cut carbon emissions by 400 tons a year, reduce energy bills by £45,000 a year and act as a blueprint for similar projects across the UK. The co-operative will also create a Local Community Fund to support initiatives to benefit the school and local community, which it is estimated will generate £227,876 over the project’s 20-year lifespan. Farmers and woodland owners in the area are now being encouraged to diversify into planting woods for coppicing over the 20-year lifespan of the project. The contract for wood-chip will be in excess of £60,000 annually (600 tons a year) and the project will act as a blueprint for similar projects across the UK. The Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative is already recruiting investors – ranging from the local GPs to manual workers and pupils’ parents and grandparents – to buy community shares with a projected return on investment of up to 13 per cent. This innovative renewable energy project, which is a collaboration between three not-for-profit organisations Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative, Transition Leicester and Sharenergy, aims to use sustainably harvested wood from local woodlands to fuel wood-chip boilers that will heat the college. Richard Halsey, a founding member and Director of Green Fox Community Energy Co-operative, said: “Investors in the Co-operative become its members and they will be contributing to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the College by an estimated 400 tonnes annually. Furthermore the project will seek to source the woodchip locally, which will in turn sustain local jobs”. Scott Morris, head of estates at John Cleveland College added: “Currently the college uses oil and the heating bills are in excess of £150,000 a year. By switching to wood-chip, we will be saving an estimated £45,000 per year – which is significant to any school.” Continue reading
Food Price, ILUC Studies Released In Run-Up To EU Biofuel Vote
According to information published by the European Parliament on Sept. 5, draft legal measures to cap traditional biofuel production and accelerate the switch to advanced biofuels will be debated on Sept. 9 and put to vote on Sept. 11. The notice specifies that the legal measures aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that result from the increased use of farmland to produce biofuel feedstocks. One proposal from the Environment Committee, drafted by Corinne Lepage, a MEP representing France, calls for a 5.5 percent cap on first-generation biofuels. The Environment Committee also wants new biofuels policy in the EU to include ILUC impacts. Alternatively, the Energy Committee is advocating for a 6.5 percent cap on first-generation biofuels, and is against including ILUC in the legislation. Within the report, the authors assert that their analysis has determined that ILUC emission calculated using the latest version of GTAP—a model that is undergoing near constant revision—are much less than those calculated by International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI). The lower results are attributed to higher yields of new cropland than assumed by IRPRI and the fact that less forest land is converted. EBB Secretary General Raffaello Garofalo said the results of the study questions the validly of including ILUC science in policy making. “Policy makers can no longer deny the immaturity of science to serve for policy making,” he said. According to ePURE, the study examines the casualty between biofuel production, global crop commodity prices and implications for food security, with particular focus on poor regions of the world. The study determines biofuel demand in Europe through 2010 only increased world grain prices by 1-2 percent, and would only increase world grain prices by another 1 percent through 2020 if no cap is placed on first-generation biofuels. The study also stresses that because commodity prices are only a small component of actual food costs, and that local food markets are often disconnected from global markets, the actual impact of biofuel on food prices is far less than 1 percent. Continue reading