By
Joachim Ezeji
www.joachimezeji.com
The saying that travelling is part of education cannot be less true in all ramifications. I say so because my recent visit and tours of Sweden as a part of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) sponsored Ecological Sanitation Resource class 2008.
I was among fifteen other top sustainable development professionals invited to Stockholm to undergo three weeks Ecological Sanitation Resource training. As part of the training we had schedules of visits very interesting places in Stockholm such as the Natur Centrum, the Skansen Centre, as well as the Skarpnack and Listudden neighborhoods. What I saw in these sites made me ‘dumb’. They were great places to visit by anyone who is really interested in the preservation of nature/ecology.
However my most recent visit to Linkoping, from where I scribble this piece stands out on its merit hence the desire to share my experiences with you. Linkoping is a growing city with a modest population of about 130,000 residents. It has a university that is named after it and which has a population of about 30,000 students. Basic amenities or utilities like drinking water, waste water treatment, electricity and solid waste management etc are under the management of a company called Tekniska Verken. In Linkoping there is great order and everybody seems happy.
Svenk Biogas is a 100% owned subsidiary of Tekniska Verken based in Linkoping, Sweden. Its mission is to promote the development of biogas. It works in this direction regionally by promoting and marketing the production of vehicle fuel gas and bio-fertilizer as well as the process development and biogas production concepts based on both farm produce and organic waste as raw materials.
Biogas is part of the cycle of nature. The gas is formed when organic matters decompose in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment. This can take place spontaneously- marsh gas is one example-or under controlled conditions, such as in a digester. In Linkoping, biogas is primarily used as fuel for vehicles, but it can be used to produce heat and electricity as well- and all this without drawing fossil fuel resources from the Earth. The biogas process also gives biological fertilizer, replacing artificial fertilizers.
Two major environmental problem areas-over fertilizing and the greenhouse effect are reduced by using biogas and bio-fertilizers. This results in a complete cycle for nutritive substances as well as for carbon dioxide.
By using bio-fertilizer the nutritive substances are returned to the farms, and by using biogas for vehicle fuel, no new carbon dioxide will be emitted to the atmosphere. You could say that the vehicles are run on solar energy which has first been stored in the green foliage and then been converted to biogas. Since biogas is a renewable form of energy it is an important part of creating sustainable environment-friendly society.
At the biogas plant in Linkoping, various waste products are converted to biogas and bio-fertilizer. Production is based on organic waste material, primarily from slaughter-house remains and the food industry, together with manure from neighboring farms.
The material is mixed into homogenous slurry in a reception tank, after which it is hygienized by steam-heating to above 70oC for at least one hour, in order to kill bacteria. After cooling, the material is pumped into a digester to be broken down by different types of microorganisms in an anaerobic environment at about 38oC. The average detention dwell time in the digester is one month, and this is where the gas is produced.
When ready, the gas is piped to the upgrading facility where it is purified in a pressurized water scrubber before it is supplied as vehicle fuel.
Next to the biogas plant the sewage water treatment plant is located. The gas produced here in the sludge digestion process can also be upgraded and used as vehicle fuel. The two plants are connected with a gas pipeline.
The biogas plant is equipped with a liquid natural gas (LNG) tank. At peak biogas demand, the LNG can be vaporized and mixed with the biogas in the pipeline, guaranteeing an uninterrupted gas supply. The material remaining after digestion, the bio-fertilizer, is cooled to 20oC and stored at the plant a day or two before distribution to farms.
All processes in connection with the production of biogas and the treatment of waste are very energy-efficient, and only a small portion of the energy content of the biogas is used in the production and distribution process.
Before biogas can be used as fuel for vehicles, it must be upgraded. Removing most of the carbon dioxide will raise the methane content to 96-98%; energy content per cubic meter roughly corresponds to 1 liter of petrol or diesel fuel. After filtering and drying, the gas meets the Swedish Standard for biogas for vehicles (SS 15 54 38).
The purified biogas is distributed to the bus depot and the public refueling station through underground pipe lines. When demand increases, it may be feasible to distribute the biogas by gas trailers to other refueling stations.
Fuelling a vehicle with biogas is done at a pressure of about 200 bars. All city buses in Linkoping run on biogas. They are refueled (slow-filling) during night stops at the depot, which has more than 60 parking spaces, making it the largest in Sweden for biogas buses
Cars are refueled at fast fill dispensers, and are usually equipped with dual fuel systems-biogas and petrol. Range varies with type of car and way of driving. The vehicles can also be refueled and run on natural gas (CNG). Biogas is the most environmentally-friendly fuel currently in existence. The combustion of biogas gives low emissions of nitrogen- and sulphur oxides, particles and uncombusted hydrocarbons.
For biological fertilizers, the quality of incoming material is essential and has to be quality assured to produce a high quality bio-fertilizer replacing artificial fertilizer on farms. Nitrogen in its organic state needs to be decomposed in the soil before it is accessible to the vegetation. During the decomposition process the organically combined nitrogen is converted into ammonium nitrogen which can be directly assimilated by the plants. This means that nutriments which the earth once gave the plants growing there, are returned, thereby completing the cycle.
As the Governor Ikedi Ohakim government trudges on with its Clean and Green Project, I am of the opinion that the project could be made greener through the adoption of the Linkoping model in Owerri city. This could be implemented if Owerri is divided into grids and the model replicated in clusters.
Showing posts with label Nuclear Energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuclear Energy. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Nuclear Plant in Owerri: Matters arising (1)
By
Joachim Ezeji
I have always insisted on the need for Nigeria to build resilience into its energy sector as this is one guaranteed way to safeguard its development process which has been hampered by inconsistent power supply. Meeting Nigeria’s energy needs will require a broad mix of energy sources and this naturally should also include renewable energy and nuclear energy as a complement to the hydro and hydrocarbon sources currently in use in the country.
Uranium based nuclear energy comes into context at this time based on current attempts by the government in the south eastern city of Owerri Nigeria to try it out. Though a highly controversial technology, it nonetheless already powers roughly one sixth of the world’s electricity production including one fifth of USA Electricity production and around 80 percent of France’s electricity.
Japan has 51 commercial nuclear power reactors that provide one-third of the country's electricity. With few natural resources of its own, Japan imports nearly all its fuel oil. Since the oil crisis of 1973, successive governments have made concerted efforts to become self-sufficient. By the year 2010, Japan wants to produce 42% of its energy in nuclear plants. The long term potential is vast, alongside other energy sources.
Nuclear power offers another potential, though one that is exceedingly, perhaps unsolvably, complicated by its intertwined links with nuclear weapons. As is well known, there are two potential forms of long-lasting nuclear energy, fission based (utilizing the energy released by splitting uranium and other radioactive materials) and fusion based (utilizing the energy released by the fusion of two hydrogen atoms into a helium atom, as happens in the sun). Only fission exists in commercial form. Fussion power is likely decades away from commercial exploitation but could be a vast source of energy in the twenty second century and beyond.
Drawing from these scenarios I see the wisdom in Imo Governor Mr. Ikedi Ohakim talking about generating electricity from nuclear plants in Imo state. As was reported recently in national newspapers Governor Ikedi Ohakim, had while on a recent visit to Washington D.C. USA, signed Memorandum of Understandings, MOUs, with three American companies. The companies are Barnett Holding Company, Foxcor Incorporates and Patten Boggs Inc.
The MOUs are for the installation of nuclear modular reactors for generating electricity, provision of mass housing and conversion of palm trees into plywood, respectively. Mr. John Barnett of Barnett Holding Company signed on behalf of his company, Mr. John Fox, for Foxcor Incorporates, while Roy Lessy and Robert Horn, signed on behalf of Patten Boggs Inc.
Speaking on the occasion, Ohakim said his government had taken a bold step at solving the perennial energy problem facing Imo State. “You know our people are very industrious and they are technologically minded, but the lack of energy and power has almost brought the economy of our country to its knees,” Ohakim said.
“The good thing about this technology of nuclear modular reactor is that it is a short time measure that you don’t require fuel until after seven years of its use and it can be deployed primarily to energy spots. They will be deployed to Owerri Township, the new city development in Ogwu town, where we are citing most of our industrial ventures and other industrial and civic centers, which would require between five to 20 megawatts respectively,” Ohakim added.
In discussing the generation of electricity from nuclear plants or reactors it is germane to stress that several issues particularly those of raw materials, cost and waste remain critical concerns and should of course be taken into consideration at this time.
Across the world, public acceptance is still skewed against nuclear energy plants out of deep fears of leakages of radiation, as in Chernobyl catastrophe; the difficulties of disposing of nuclear waste products; and the ability to convert and divert nuclear plant materials (both inputs and waste products) into weapons-grade nuclear materials.
The expanded use of nuclear power is all but inevitable, notably in China, India, Japan and several other countries. The biggest fear is that the expansion of nuclear power in some countries, especially the crisis-ridden Middle East, can be a pretext for the development of a nuclear weapon industry as well.
A flashback to Chernobyl will suffice; Reactor Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began to fail in the early hours of 26 April, 1986. Seven seconds after the operators activated the 20-second shut down system, there was a power surge. The chemical explosions that followed were so powerful that they blew the 1,000 ton cover off the top of the reactor. Design flaws in the power plant's cooling system probably caused the uncontrollable power surge that led to Chernobyl's destruction.
Serious mistakes had also been made by the plant operators, who had disengaged several safety and cooling systems and taken other unauthorized actions during tests of electrical equipment. With procedures intended to ensure safe operation of the plant operating less than effectively, the Chernobyl unit was even more vulnerable to unforeseen power discharges.
The Chernobyl plant did not have an effective containment structure, and without that protection, radioactive material escaped into the wider environment. The crippled reactor is still encased in a hurriedly constructed concrete sarcophagus, which is growing weaker over time. The accident that destroyed the reactor in Unit Four killed 31 people almost immediately.
Soviet scientists estimate that about 4% of the 190 tons of uranium dioxide products escaped and began to spread unevenly across the surrounding countryside, affected by the vagaries of the weather. Both Soviet and Western scientists agree that most of the contaminating material affected Belarus, but that 40% spread to other nearby areas, including Ukraine.
Immediately after the accident, the main health concern involved levels of radio-iodine radiation. Although the 600,000 workers involved in the recovery and clean-up after the accident were exposed to high doses of radiation, the exact amount cannot be accurately measured. The workers, many of them volunteers, were not equipped with measuring instruments to monitor the dosages they were receiving, but estimates of about 165 millisieverts have been made.
Joachim Ezeji
I have always insisted on the need for Nigeria to build resilience into its energy sector as this is one guaranteed way to safeguard its development process which has been hampered by inconsistent power supply. Meeting Nigeria’s energy needs will require a broad mix of energy sources and this naturally should also include renewable energy and nuclear energy as a complement to the hydro and hydrocarbon sources currently in use in the country.
Uranium based nuclear energy comes into context at this time based on current attempts by the government in the south eastern city of Owerri Nigeria to try it out. Though a highly controversial technology, it nonetheless already powers roughly one sixth of the world’s electricity production including one fifth of USA Electricity production and around 80 percent of France’s electricity.
Japan has 51 commercial nuclear power reactors that provide one-third of the country's electricity. With few natural resources of its own, Japan imports nearly all its fuel oil. Since the oil crisis of 1973, successive governments have made concerted efforts to become self-sufficient. By the year 2010, Japan wants to produce 42% of its energy in nuclear plants. The long term potential is vast, alongside other energy sources.
Nuclear power offers another potential, though one that is exceedingly, perhaps unsolvably, complicated by its intertwined links with nuclear weapons. As is well known, there are two potential forms of long-lasting nuclear energy, fission based (utilizing the energy released by splitting uranium and other radioactive materials) and fusion based (utilizing the energy released by the fusion of two hydrogen atoms into a helium atom, as happens in the sun). Only fission exists in commercial form. Fussion power is likely decades away from commercial exploitation but could be a vast source of energy in the twenty second century and beyond.
Drawing from these scenarios I see the wisdom in Imo Governor Mr. Ikedi Ohakim talking about generating electricity from nuclear plants in Imo state. As was reported recently in national newspapers Governor Ikedi Ohakim, had while on a recent visit to Washington D.C. USA, signed Memorandum of Understandings, MOUs, with three American companies. The companies are Barnett Holding Company, Foxcor Incorporates and Patten Boggs Inc.
The MOUs are for the installation of nuclear modular reactors for generating electricity, provision of mass housing and conversion of palm trees into plywood, respectively. Mr. John Barnett of Barnett Holding Company signed on behalf of his company, Mr. John Fox, for Foxcor Incorporates, while Roy Lessy and Robert Horn, signed on behalf of Patten Boggs Inc.
Speaking on the occasion, Ohakim said his government had taken a bold step at solving the perennial energy problem facing Imo State. “You know our people are very industrious and they are technologically minded, but the lack of energy and power has almost brought the economy of our country to its knees,” Ohakim said.
“The good thing about this technology of nuclear modular reactor is that it is a short time measure that you don’t require fuel until after seven years of its use and it can be deployed primarily to energy spots. They will be deployed to Owerri Township, the new city development in Ogwu town, where we are citing most of our industrial ventures and other industrial and civic centers, which would require between five to 20 megawatts respectively,” Ohakim added.
In discussing the generation of electricity from nuclear plants or reactors it is germane to stress that several issues particularly those of raw materials, cost and waste remain critical concerns and should of course be taken into consideration at this time.
Across the world, public acceptance is still skewed against nuclear energy plants out of deep fears of leakages of radiation, as in Chernobyl catastrophe; the difficulties of disposing of nuclear waste products; and the ability to convert and divert nuclear plant materials (both inputs and waste products) into weapons-grade nuclear materials.
The expanded use of nuclear power is all but inevitable, notably in China, India, Japan and several other countries. The biggest fear is that the expansion of nuclear power in some countries, especially the crisis-ridden Middle East, can be a pretext for the development of a nuclear weapon industry as well.
A flashback to Chernobyl will suffice; Reactor Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began to fail in the early hours of 26 April, 1986. Seven seconds after the operators activated the 20-second shut down system, there was a power surge. The chemical explosions that followed were so powerful that they blew the 1,000 ton cover off the top of the reactor. Design flaws in the power plant's cooling system probably caused the uncontrollable power surge that led to Chernobyl's destruction.
Serious mistakes had also been made by the plant operators, who had disengaged several safety and cooling systems and taken other unauthorized actions during tests of electrical equipment. With procedures intended to ensure safe operation of the plant operating less than effectively, the Chernobyl unit was even more vulnerable to unforeseen power discharges.
The Chernobyl plant did not have an effective containment structure, and without that protection, radioactive material escaped into the wider environment. The crippled reactor is still encased in a hurriedly constructed concrete sarcophagus, which is growing weaker over time. The accident that destroyed the reactor in Unit Four killed 31 people almost immediately.
Soviet scientists estimate that about 4% of the 190 tons of uranium dioxide products escaped and began to spread unevenly across the surrounding countryside, affected by the vagaries of the weather. Both Soviet and Western scientists agree that most of the contaminating material affected Belarus, but that 40% spread to other nearby areas, including Ukraine.
Immediately after the accident, the main health concern involved levels of radio-iodine radiation. Although the 600,000 workers involved in the recovery and clean-up after the accident were exposed to high doses of radiation, the exact amount cannot be accurately measured. The workers, many of them volunteers, were not equipped with measuring instruments to monitor the dosages they were receiving, but estimates of about 165 millisieverts have been made.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)