burn the solution
Manure problem literally goes up in smoke
Buy manure, dry it, burn it and then have green gas left over. The only by-product is high-quality carbon, which can partly replace fertilizer. The Hoogeveen company Stercore has researched this and it is possible. The aim is to open the first factory in Emmen in 2019.
Hans Jansen and Richard Kusters are the inventors of Stercore who researched this. RTV Drenthe reports that the researchers at the provincial government unveiled the plans. "Simply put: we buy manure, we dry it first. Then we put it in the gasifier, where we burn it without oxygen. The green gas is then released. We make natural gas quality from that gas and then supply it to the natural gas network." Jansen explains to RTV Drenthe.
No residues
The great advantage of this method is that no residues remain, which is the case with fermentation. The factory in Emmen is to supply 3.000 cubic meters of green gas per hour. On an annual basis, the production of 20 million cubic meters of green gas is assumed. There is a price tag, because the factory costs €36 million. Two-thirds of that amount has already been covered, the researchers said, without support from banks.
The by-product of gas production is high-quality carbon, a soil improver. Something that can replace fertilizer and which the researchers mainly want to export to countries with a nutrient-poor soil. In the Netherlands it can be used in potting soil or garden soil.
Big ambitions
The men are ambitious, because there are also plans for a factory in Havelte. This can provide the grass drying plant in Ruinerwold with energy. But there are even more plans for factories. They have to come close to gas customers and the suppliers of manure. Especially in Brabant there are possibilities. In addition to Brabant, Drenthe is an option, because of the access to a lot of German manure just across the border.
"Factories in the Netherlands can produce 1 billion cubic meters of gas. A significant part of the manure surplus in our country can be solved with this,"
Herman van den Pol
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