E.ON Buys 11.8-MW Biogas Plant from Schmack

December 04, 2008 | 3 Comments

Schmack Biogas AG has sold an 11.8-megawatt (MW) biogas plant located in Aiterhofen, Germany to E.ON Bioerdgas GmbH. Once completed, the plant will produce some 16.5 million cubic metres of biogas annually.

This will be fed into the natural gas grid of Energienetze Bayern GmbH, with marketing to be handled by E.ON Bioerdgas. More than 150 regional farmers will supply the required raw material mix of maize, whole plant and grass silage and catch crops. Construction of the €21 million [US $26.5 million] plant has already started.

"Acknowledging Schmack Biogas AG’s success in developing and implementing a professional industrial-scale plant concept capable of processing a wide variety of different renewable raw materials, we have designated them as one of our partners for long-term cooperation," Friedrich Wolf, managing director of E.ON Bioerdgas GmbH.

3 Comments

Ruzena Svedelius, AgrD
January 29, 2009

It is possible to use the brush and trees as feedstocks for high solids anaerobic digestion (HSAD) see Internet.
All renewable organic materials (ROM) - originated from plant, animal and microbial biomass, such as organic residues and waste from all human activities - can be utilised for production of both biogas and for cultivation adjusted biofertilisers.
For example ROM in municipal and industrial waste; in residues from forestry, agri- and horticulture; human and animal excreta and of course also fuel crops can be shredded and mixed as feedstocks.
During composting occur emissions = losses of energy and plant nutrients.
Anaerobic digestion in closed decentralised systems is the most sustainable way (ecologically, economically and socially) to use ROM.
rsvedelius@hotmail.com

Gunter Woltron
December 28, 2008

Leaves and similar material are generally not viable for biogas plants. That is where anaerobic digesters (product: biogas) differ from aerobic digestors (product: compost). However there is plenty of other organic material readily available, especially commercial food waste (restaurants, catering), industrial food waste from food manufacturing and waste food from supermarkets.

The example described above utilizes substantial amounts of silage from energy crops. But in their case it hardly rivals food crop plantations. Slurry and manure is another input material.
Gunter Woltron,

Glenn Andersen
December 5, 2008

Would it be possible to use the brush and trees on the hillsides of Southern California as fuel for such a biogas facility? We need a way to turn the fuel that feeds our annual firestorms into fuel for energy that we can use.