Oct 5 2012
An innovative business competition has been launched in the West Midlands for companies keen to develop opportunities in renewable bioenergy.
This pilot project, unique to the West Midlands, is looking for five organisations within the region which have the potential to site innovative small-scale bioenergy power plants. These plants are capable of providing organisations with heat, power and electricity powered by a range of renewable sources including grass and green clippings, meat and bone meal, sewage sludge, husk from wheat and barley, oil pressing cake from rape seed, soy bean, cocoa butter, olive, sunflower, miscanthus, wood, algae, corn residue, dried anaerobic residues and brewery residues. Plants are compact and can be housed in a building 12m².
Organised under the auspices of Birmingham Science City as a part of BioenNW - an EU funded Interreg IVB project - the ‘Regional Competition for Development of Innovative Bioenergy Schemes’ is open to West Midlands based local authorities, industrial organisations, landowners, developers, waste companies, energy companies and any other stakeholders interested in infrastructure development of this type.
The identified site with the highest potential to house a bioenergy plant, will win both a development plan and a business plan. Four other sites will receive development plans.
Dr Pam Waddell, Chair of the Competition Steering Group and Director of Birmingham Science City, said: “If you have an idea for a bioenergy scheme, this competition provides a fantastic platform from which you can accelerate your plans. The chosen sites will work with appointed consultants to take their local schemes to the point of build. I am delighted that the West Midlands is setting an example for the rest of Europe to follow, in a project seen as so significant for Europe that BioenNW has been awarded Strategic Initiative status by the European Union. I would encourage any interested organisations within the West Midlands to submit an Expression of Interest form.”
BioenNW sees five countries in North West Europe working together to deliver local, small-scale bioenergy schemes using anaerobic digestion and a new pyrolysis technology called a Pyroformer™, developed by researchers at the project’s lead partner, the European Bioenergy Research Institute at Aston University.
Source: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/