Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Julia Brown (left), manager of the Process Development Division of the Scientific Research Council (SRC) and Dr. Audia Barnett (second left), SRC executive director, watch as Phillip Paulwell (right), Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, attempts to light a stove fuelled by biogas during the launch of the SRC's UASB waste water treatment system yesterday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
IF PHILLIP Paulwell said Government was using human faeces to generate energy, you might put it down to 'youthful exuberance'.
However, Mr. Paulwell, Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, was able to announce yesterday that the Scientific Research Council (SRC) had done just that.
Launched officially yesterday, but in operation since last May, the new water treatment system at the SRC's Hope Gardens, St. Andrew, headquarters is saving the Government agency $250,000 a year.
Given its current level of savings, the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor should recoup its $500,000 cost by the same time next year.
Currently, the UASB converts waste water from its food processing pilot plant into biogas, which it then uses to power the kitchen at its headquarters, thereby saving on its Jamaica Public Service (JPS) bill.
The SRC also wants to use the UASB to provide energy to the canteen and also to back up its solar dryers. It is currently planning to apply the same process to its sewage treatment.
"It can be used on a large scale, trust me. Worldwide it is used on a large scale," said Julia Brown, SRC manager of product development, during the launch. Ms. Brown told The Gleaner that one farm in Clarendon has already adapted the technology, making it energy self-sufficient and saving more than $1 million per year on its JPS bill.
Mr. Paulwell said he would be meeting with representatives of the National Housing Trust (NHT) to encourage them to include similar systems on future developments. He also noted that, like the Wigton Windfarm in Clarendon and the Government nationwide distribution of energy-saving light bulbs, the SRC initiative also had the potential to earn carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol.
"This new system, applied on a wider scale, will not only benefit us as individuals, but the entire country," said Mr. Paulwell, who is currently on a drive to increase the adoption of renewable energy as part of the National Energy Policy, which is currently up for public consultation.
How it works
Waste water flows from the holding tank on to a layer of sludge at the bottom of the UASB reactor. The reactor contains bacteria, from animal excrement, which is otherwise absent, but necessary for the process.
The bacteria dissolve the pollutants and, in the breakdown process, produce the biogas for energy and water, which is treated further and then used for
irrigation.
For more information, contact the SRC: 927-1771-4.
The National Energy Policy Green Paper can be viewed online at: http://www.cabinet.gov.jm/
