New process makes biomass conversion system viable

Biomass-fuelled power generating plant produced by Knetic Renewables Ltd (KNL) will use a new process that overcomes high maintenance problems that have made some other biomass conversion systems unviable.

The technologies will also avoid a global issue associated with excessive use of food crops as biofuel and allow clean energy-generating power plants to be built at individual industry sites.

The company is also developing a pneumatic ocean power system designed to capture wave energy and generate electricity through a low-cost, mass-produced, floating device.

The pneumatic devices pump air to a turbine generator and related infrastructure on shore. A pilot plant is currently being constructed at the company’s Gold Coast facilities.

The clean energy generating processes have been developed by the company’s major shareholder and managing director Greg Paxton, who is seeking a patent for the technologies.

The biomass conversion technology enables operations such as feedlots and pulp mills to meet their own electricity requirements, with any excess energy available for sale.

Paxton said KRL generators would ultimately be capable of meeting the electricity needs of residential communities using fuels including sewage and organic landfill as readily available and sustainable fuels as well as supplementing the national power grid.

Paxton said livestock waste and other biofuels generate little or no greenhouse gas emissions when using the company’s technology for producing energy and represent an ongoing renewable energy resource.

“The technology involves the refinement of a power generating method that has existed for decades and produces hydrogen-rich gas as fuel for an electric generator,” said Paxton.

“Our technology enables more efficient energy transfer, cutting maintenance costs making the process more economically viable.”

The technology is seen as making an important contribution to the feed-lot industry because it provides a value-adding solution to the problem of animal waste disposal, which has limited the industry’s growth in some areas.

“While use of solid animal waste as fuel is the primary focus of KRL, other renewable non-food-crop biofuels can be used with equal success,” said Paxton.

“In the future we see our generators standing in proximity to rural communities, sustainable forestry and sewage systems providing not only power but vitally important environmental solutions including some remediation of degraded facilities.

“Similarly our pneumatic ocean power system has the potential to service quite large coastal communities.

“With the development of the carbon abatement market, it becomes economically viable to bring in advanced technologies and build biomass power production systems in Australia.

“Our technology enables the production of modular generation facilities that can be rapidly deployed providing industrial operations with the capability of producing their own energy, with any excess being fed into the national grid.”