Now even small food business can make their own gas
Management of waste is not only a food safety issue but a significant business problem as well. If there is a way to reduce food waste, this is a major cost saving for any business.
Obviously there are methods to reduce the amount of waste that all food businesses should have in place, like buying in bulk, only using what is needed, working with suppliers to reduce packaging and using “ugly” fruit and vegetables.
Once waste has been generated, sensible and sustainable food businesses then work hard to recycle, and reuse.
Really clever food businesses can now look toward new technology to reduce costs of waste treatment and disposal by producing fuel for their cooking and vehicles through the processing of all the food waste.
The concept of converting waste to fuel has been around for hundreds of years, but it is only now that the technology has evolved to the point that even small food businesses can do it themselves.
Biogas is produced when food waste is digested by bacteria in the absence of oxygen. The gas produced is methane and it is used around the world to power vehicles and, once processed, for cooking.
The device used to produce the gas is called a biogas digester and now finally there is a small enough model available that an average restaurant and factory can install one easily.
The digester produces the methane and a biomass which can be used as fertiliser or even further processed to fertiliser and recycled water.
I don’t normally talk about specific products in my articles here, but it well worth all smaller food businesses knowing that they can, with a relatively low investment, join the big boys in being sustainable with their food waste.
Mr Ron Larkin from BioBowser said; “It’s like having your own bowser, but the fuel is free. All we need to know is the quantity of waste available on a regular basis and the energy requirements of the business and in what form and we can tailor the BioBowser to suit the needs of the individual customer. If the amount of waste increases or more gas is needed we can put in more units as the system is modular. A food factory with twenty cubic metres of waste a week could produce methane of the equivalent heat value of sixty kilograms of LPG which would be more than sufficient for cooking, heating and lighting while a larger facility producing 5 tonne of waste a day could provide sufficient energy to power a generator to produce electricity for the entire plant.”
If a business is not able to use all the fuel that one of these systems produces, it could even sell the fuel to other businesses in the area – thus using the system to make money and spread the sustainability even further.
For more information go to http://biobowser.com.au/
Written by Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.