The new unknown energy sources

Behind the term methanization hides a natural process of degradation of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This produces gas and therefore Energy. Many companies today use this technique to get rid of their waste, employing new, unknown sources of interesting energy.

Rotten melons

Each season, a fruit company in France finds 2000 tons of melons that they cannot sell. However, the management of this waste has an approximate cost of € 150.000 per year for transport and treatment. In 2011, the company acquired a methanization unit developed by a Belgian company, GreenWatt. The principle is simple. Damaged or rotten fruits are placed in a place where they are degraded by bacteria that give off biogas. The energy produced is resold, while the heat is used within the factory itself.

Rotten carrots

The same principle happens with carrots. A French group, one of the European leaders in the cultivation of carrot, inaugurated in 2014 a biomethanization unit, also developed by the company GreenWatt. The group produces energy for the equivalent of 420 homes.

Energy from cheese

Cheese also has unsuspected properties. The union of producers in the area of ​​Savoy, France, inaugurated last October a unit for the transformation of whey, the yellowish liquid generated by the manufacture of cheese. In addition to the production of butter, this element is also a source of energy through a process of metanization. This unit should allow the production of close to three million kWh of energy per year, that is, the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 1500 inhabitants.

Human excrement

A very particular bus travels the streets of Bristol, In England. The originality of the vehicle is that it circulates thanks to human excrement. It is a green fuel since it emits 80% of carbon dioxide and between 20 and 30% of dioxide carbon less than a diesel engine. This biobus can travel up to 300 km thanks to the annual natural organic excrement of 5 people. Faced with the success of its pilot project, the company GENECO has just launched a request for funding to the Government to develop its clean energy network.