Member Article

Earthmill hosts insight day on CHP renewable energy

Wetherby-based farm-scale renewables specialist, Earthmill, is hosting an insight day for farmers, manufacturers and other high energy users who want to find out more about the benefits of combined heat and power (CHP) renewable energy and its potential to future- proof businesses against rising energy costs.

The free event, on Tuesday 27 October at Earthmill’s Wetherby office, will provide an insight into how the latest CHP renewable energy technology can help combat ever-increasing fuel costs.

The low-carbon technology can be used to heat dairies, pig and poultry units and industrial facilities. Using a specially designed reactor, sustainable woodchip is heated to around 1100°C to produce a flammable gas.

The clean-burning ‘biogas’ is then cooled and filtered to fuel a gas engine which drives a generator and produces electricity. A large amount of heat is produced in the process but unlike in conventional power stations, it is not wasted.

The thermal or heat energy is transferred into water which can then be used on farms to heat dairies, or pig or poultry sheds, making the process more than 88 per cent efficient.

Earthmill managing director Steve Milner said: “Since we launched our CHP division earlier this year we’ve had a lot of interest from both the farming and manufacturing sectors. Rising energy costs are a major issue for many businesses and, being a sustainable, clean-power technology, combined with the subsidies available makes CHP a very attractive proposition. This is a relatively new technology which, understandably, people have lots of questions about. By offering these sessions we’re hoping to help people understand how they can get paid to produce heat and power and what long-term returns and operational benefits they can expect.”

The event will provide the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the technology and various aspects of CHP including: how it works; the costs and returns and the subsidies available.

The potential applications of the technology, including how systems can be tailored to supply heat for most commercial purposes including pig and poultry farms, wood processors and industrial units, will also be discussed.

Natwest will be on hand to talk about funding options and representatives from Good Chip and Perry Biomass will be available to provide an overview of the fuel options.

Mr Milner added: “Our wind turbine open days have always proved useful for people considering installing a turbine on their land and we hope that the CHP day will prove similarly beneficial to those thinking about how the technology could help meet their business’s power requirements and help future-proof them against rising energy costs.”

Three sessions will run throughout the day, at 10am, 1pm and 6pm and anyone who is interested in attending should call or email Oliver Leake at Earthmill on 01937 581011 or oliver.leake@earthmill.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Kilmurray .