I’ve posted several times about the fledgling New Zealand biofuels industry and how I think the current National government have pulled the rug out from under it. In comments people have often raised concern about the potential for biofuels to create other problems such as food shortages. That’s one of the reasons I’m so keen to see a lot more biofuel development that uses waste product as its feedstock.
But the use of waste to produce energy isn’t limited to biofuels. The Dominion Post had an interesting little story today on its Small Business page about Peter Yealands from Yealands Estate. He’s going to be using prunings from his vineyard to provide energy. This will save 22,000 tonnes of LPG and $80,000 during the vintage. EECA has backed the project with a 40 percent ($200k) subsidy.
The prunings will be burned in two boilers with modified doors that are being imported from the US. They burn clean, releasing no smoke and leaving only about 10kg of ash at the end of each bale. That ash will be mixed with mulch made from the rest of the prunings and put back on the land (only about 10% of the prunings will be burned).
This is the kind of energy innovation we should be encouraging a lot more of. Good to see EECA getting behind it. The question now should be – how do we get more of it?
Prunings sound good
NZ potential is huge, we have such a unique environment that could produce many biofuels without impacting food production.
Saves $80,000 yet a 40% subsidy costs $200,000… Meaning overall it costs $500,000 to save $80,000..?
If the boliers last more then seven seasons they’ll see a return…
The company that has the patent for thermal depolymerization just went bankrupt, it is probably up for sale, NZ could turn all our landfills into oil if we wanted to buy it and pay for it…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization
This is how it works:
http://www.changingworldtech.com/what/tcp_process.pdf
Producing fuel from waste isn’t sustainable. Once oil based fertiliser becomes hard to come by then that bio-waste will have to go back to the soil so that we can grow food.
How many people have starved because arable land now grows bio-fuels rather than food? Biofuels are not an effective or efficient use of land.
We’d do better to improve the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet.
Actually, we’d do better getting rid of most of the vehicle fleet. Individuals do not need their own cars.
[deleted - unacceptable language - continue and you'll find yourself in moderation - chris] speak for yourself. This attitude demonstrates perfectly the atitude of the left in that you make judgements on what is best for everyone. Sure some people can do without a car – but what about individuals who live well away from transport routes, or the diabled, or the the parent who needs to transport multiple children (including friends to sporting activities, the beach, the public parks etc. Never have I heard such stupidity.
I agree with you Monty, some people need cars and I’m more in favour of getting eco cars than being stuck on a bus, you pay, and the driver suddenly takes off fast and you fall down with a bag in one hand and a six pack in the other half on the floor and half on the seat. The bleep didn’t even care when I complained
There are quite a few problems with public transport Monty, drivers who smoke in the buses on cold days and then drive with the windows open and then think that the passengers can’t smell it when they get on and choke. Rude drivers – example a rage filled guy who kept yelling for bleeps sake at the traffic, dangerous drivers, drivers who deliberately leave a stop late (making you late too) just so they don’t have to wait at a particular point…
Give me the old car any day, just make it cleaner to run.
It is almost impossible to make clean cars Spud, roads are the largest cause of environmental damage in our current transport policy and even if we get a fleet of fully electric vehicles running on renewable electricity we still have the problems of car production and disposal and tires… About 40% of a car’s pollution and carbon emissions are during it’s production another 10% – 15% during it’s disposal… Each tire loses 400g of rubber every year as particles which get into – and pollute everything and cause respritory death and then we have to dispose of the these tires and they regularly catch on fire causing massive pollution…
Public transport is the key to living a more economically productive, healthy, community minded lifesytle…
Or as one wag put it, do something outrageous today – drive a car…
And in Dubai your tires can just explode from the heat
I’m optimistic about getting cleaner cars, we just need a bunch of scientists committed to it.
I meant tyres
Well Spud, I just pointed out all the ways you can not – and never will – have significantly cleaner cars… You could put every last scientist in the world on the case and it wouldn’t make any difference…
Cars that carry many times current levels, run on full electrics, can carry frieght and don’t have rubber tires are the answer – they’re called trains…
I’m all for boosting rail in this country, especially for freight
Speaking of trains, where’s jarbury these days? 
I think that if they can do that atom thing with the particle accelerator then surely someone can come up with a clean car.
Well Spud unless they figure out how to smelt two tonnes of steel, make copious amounts of plastic and rubber all without releasing masses of carbon, use 42 barrels of oil and screeds of electricity, or make cars without batteries due to all the nasty chemicals in them, I think we are boned… I don’t think Einstein could crack that problem… Is the bus really that bad, especially if we had the services in Zurich..?
Yes the bus really is that bad, if the bus services improved more people would want to use them. Though one big selling point of buses is that could can drink as much as you like cos you don’t have to drive
The old candle burners of yesteryear never imagined things like light bulbs and 3D movies
I think we will be pleasantly surprised one day 
To answer your question Chris, simple, fund it. Get the public on board and fund it. Having said that, according to statements from Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), total waste or “residuals” available in this country will only povide 6% of our needs. However, that’s an important 6%, especially on a local and community scale.
It’s how we fill the remaining 94% of all our energy and transport fuel requirements, that is the big question.