The biogas plant in Falköping
In the municipalityof Falköping, the cars and buses fill their tanks with biogas made from household food waste. This means that the municipal has got its own biogas system - a biogas system that refers to the entire cycle, from the addition of the substrate to the anaerobic digestion, upgrading, the return of the digestion residue and the use of biogas as vehicle fuel. This local biogas system is called the Falköping model and it has gained both domestic and foreign attention. Falköping first started with anaerobic sludge treatment in the 1960´s. They used the extracted raw gas to heat the local sewage treatment works. During the beginning of 2000, the municipality decided to start digesting household food waste as well. The amount of gas increased with the anaerobic digestion of this organic material. Therefore the municipality needed a new and more efficient way of dealing with the raw gas and they decided to upgrade it to the kind of gas you can use in vehicles. To be able to substitute the fossil fuels, if only to some extent, means a great environmental gain for the municipality.
The Falköping biogas systemBriefly, the production of biogas from food waste takes place in the following manner: The sorted and coarsely ground food waste from households in Falköping is delivered to the biogas plant. Once there, it is emptied into a reception bin, from which food waste is transported by screws to a so-called pulper. In the pulper, the material is finely ground and diluted with water, so that it can be pumped. The material is pumped to a holding tank, and then pumped further to a digestion chamber. The holding tank is needed because the digestion chamber should still be able to be supplied with material during the weekend, when food waste is not received.Raw gas is produced in the digestion chamber but only about 65 percent of the substance is methane. To be used in vehicles it needs to have a methane percentage of at least 97. Therefore the raw gas is transported from de digestion chambers to the upgrading plant, where carbon dioxide, water, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide is separated from the gas. The upgraded gas is now eligible to be used as vehicle fuel and is transported to a fuel filling station at Ålleberg Center. When the citizens of Falköping then fill their cars and buses with biogas made from food waste they experience the benefits of composting. The production of biogas also creates a digestion residue. This residue is rich with different nutrients and therefore great for the agriculture. The circle is, as you say, complete. Successful collaborations
The municipality of Falköping has managed to create a successful local biogas strategy, with sustainable large-scale consumption and production in collaboration between town and countryside. They have also succeeded in making different actors within the biogas field to collaborate. The municipality owns the biogas plant and sells the raw gas to Göteborg Energi who, in their turn, holds the rights to upgrading plant. Göteborg Energi then distributes the upgraded gas to FordonsGasAB, who owns the gas filling station in Ålleberg Center. Download as pdf
Environmental gains- A car could drive nine laps around the world on the vehicle gas that is now being produced in Falköping. In correlation with an increasing anaerobic digestion, this number will continue to grow.
- By driving a car that runs on biogas, you can reduce the discharge of carbon dioxide by almost a hundred percent. In comparison with fossil fuels, the combustion of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide is also lower with biogas.
- A local biogas system increases the municipality´s independence. Public transport, waste management and other essential activities in a municipality can function regardless of the access to, and the current price on, oil.
- A local production of biogas provides for several needs within the municipal. The need to transport other products across country, like commercial fertilizer for example, therefore diminishes. In the long run, this will have a very positive impact on the environment.
- Well exploited digestion residue provides environmental gains by creating a mineral cycle of nutrients between the town and the countryside. By replacing commercial fertiliser, digestion residue indirectly reduces the use of fossil energy and the extraction of finite resources. As agriculture is a producer of substrates that are used in biogas production, the system can contribute to maintaining a living countryside.
|
About the municipality of FalköpingAbout 31 000 people live in the municipality of Falköping. The biggest town has got approximately 16 000 citizens.The municipality is one of the partners in the European Commission funded project BiogasMax. The project aims, during a four year period, to increase the knowledge and the use of biogas as a vehicle fuel. Falköping was been given the task of developing a guide for decision makers for the large scale consumption and local production of biogas in collaboration between town and countryside. This strategy has now been made and it is being tested by other municipalities, both in Sweden and Europe .
|
