Perhaps you have heard or read about using biogas as an alternative vehicle fuel.
The quest for an efficient alternative fuel is still going on; even though there are bio fuels that are already available in the market place commercially. Biogas fuel is one of them. So what is biogas? It is another form of renewable energy where its energy is extracted from organic waste materials. And manufacturing costs are a lot cheaper when compared to cost of production for petroleum fossil fuels.
How is energy generated? It is a biological reaction caused by bacteria degradation. The organic materials is being attacked by bacteria in the absence of oxygen hence anaerobic digestion occurred and gas in the form of methane and carbon dioxide is produced. The digestion process occur when there is an absence of oxygen. The ideal Environments are marshes, rubbish dumps, septic tanks, and Arctic Tundra. There are improvised methods developed by producing complex machines to have a better result.
Adding water to the organic waste material is the conventional method used and it is also known as the “liquid process”. The process used in “landfill sites are called “solid process”.
So now that we know how the biogas is produced, how do we collect it and consume it as a fuel? Methane gas from experience is very hard to compress. For this reason, the best approach is to use it as stationary fuel. Meaning we do not transport it but use it directly from the site where the gas is produced.
This fuel is best used at home for cooking, heating, light and absorption refrigeration. It can also be used to run pumps that are powered by gas powered engines.
What are its benefits? These are the benefits:
- Save money from your energy bills
- It is easy to control.
- It is quicker to produce.
- There is no smoke or smell.
- It has no dark carbon residue on your pots.
- The sludge produced could be used as a fertilizer.
- It reduces pathogen transmission compared to untreated waste.
- It helps to reduce our dependence to petroleum fossil oil, thus causing a positive effect on our economy.
- It reduces the pollution of our environment.
- It provides additional source of jobs.
In conclusion, Biogas fuel is one of the accepted Alternative Fuel Sources in the world today. With its valuable benefits and advantages over petroleum fossil fuels we should work together for its improvement. I personally believe that one day; we will live in a much cleaner, safer and healthier world.