Corporate | 17 July 2012 11:30
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EnviTec Biogas AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
EnviTec Biogas AG cranks up the bio-natural gas market with EnviThan
Lohne, 17 July 2012 – Innovative, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly are the features of the biogas treatment plant technology EnviThan made by EnviTec Biogas AG from Lohne in Lower Saxony. The process, which won this year's Biogas Innovation Prize awarded by the German Farmers Association, has found a first user: on June, Bioenergie Köckte GmbH & Co. KG in Saxony Anhalt announced the start of construction work on an EnviThan gas treatment plant with a capacity of 349 standard cubic metres. The biomethane plant will be built on the Köckte industrial estate in the direct vicinity of an agricultural enterprise – and will use cow manure, corn silage and whole-plant silage as input materials. Since the beginning of 2012, EnviTec has been using membrane modules from Evonik Industries for the new process. 'These hollow-fibre membranes clean the raw biogas generated in biogas plants to more than 98 per cent content particularly efficiently,' explains Jürgen Tenbrink, the Technical Director at EnviTec Biogas AG. 'This results in high-purity biomethane which can be directly fed into the natural gas grid,' Tenbrink continues. Biogas plant operators like Bioenergie Köckte can benefit from the advantages of the new technology that are mainly provided by the amended Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) for treated biogas. The stipulations of the new EEG mean that operators of combined heat and power units (CHP) who use treated biogas receive a higher gas treatment bonus for their electricity tariff. 'This, plus the increase in natural gas prices to be expected, makes the market for bio-natural gas even more attractive,' Jürgen Tenbrink adds.
The membrane technology makes use of the different sizes and permeation speeds of gas molecules: since carbon dioxide molecules are smaller than methane molecules, they can migrate through the membrane much more quickly, which means the methane remains on the high-pressure side while the harmful CO
2
molecules in the biogas pass through. This in turn means that gas treatment needs neither chemicals nor water nor any other resources. 'This makes EnviThan less expensive and more eco-friendly compared to other methods, because no wastewater is produced,' Jürgen Tenbrink explains.
At the moment, up to 80 per cent of the natural gas used in Germany is imported. By increasing the use of EnviThan technology, treated bio-natural gas could contribute to the majority of natural gas consumption being covered by local renewable raw materials and organic waste. At the same time, the emission of harmful fuel gas would be reduced, since no more carbon dioxide is released during biomethane combustion than the substrates used for production already contained.
About EnviTec Biogas AG
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| Language: | English | |
| Company: | EnviTec Biogas AG | |
| Industriering 10a | ||
| 49393 Lohne | ||
| Germany | ||
| Phone: | +49 (0) 44 42 – 80 65 0 | |
| Fax: | +49 (0) 44 42 – 80 65 103 | |
| E-mail: | info@envitec-biogas.de | |
| Internet: | www.envitec-biogas.de | |
| ISIN: | DE000A0MVLS8 | |
| WKN: | A0MVLS | |
| Listed: | Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München, Stuttgart | |
| End of News | DGAP News-Service |
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