Vol. No. Vol. 2418No. 22 27
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Wednesday,December January 13, 2016 Wednesday, 1, 2021
LET THERE BE LIGHT: Stella, left, and Eleanor Bouma enjoy a bauble light installation in Roberts Avenue. The bauble and a Christmas tree came to life during Horsham’s Kannamaroo Festival and will light up every night from 8pm during the festive season. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Gas plant progress E
BIG CHRISTMAS CATALOGUE LIFT-OUT INSIDE
BY DEAN LAWSON
stablishing direction on the types of renewable gas and-or products to develop from a proposed $200-million Ararat bioenergy project will be the subject of a community gathering today.
Pacific Heat and Power will use the forum to provide details of a preliminary engineering study with Advisian into the concept and explain the two best-fit operating systems research has identified. The forum will be at Ararat’s Alexandra Oval Community Centre from 4pm. Pacific Heat and Power is working with Ararat Rural City Council to develop a Grampians Gas plant that would use district straw and stubble to create renewable-power products.
A multi-faceted project brief involves everything from generating commercial value from agricultural waste to creating energy resources and onsite power to support the potential for behind-the-meter opportunities for an industrial hub. The development scope and technology involved has the potential to have a national impact on Australian energy direction, use and adaptation and be socio-economically transformational for Ararat and the broader region. One of the options involves generating various types of gas from the decomposition of straw using ‘anaerobic digestion’. The other concentrates on a ‘valorisation’ process that involves manipulating the raw carbon-rich material into a diverse range of products. Pacific Heat and Power managing director Scott Grierson said he would
use today’s forum to explain in detail the aspects of the different systems and outline other project developments and steps. “We have narrowed the process down to two options and we will now move through a design stage to further establish technology and economic viability details,” he said. “From there we will establish what we are going to do via pathways, prioritising end products and looking at the vendor landscape and so on. “It’s about getting an end-to-end understanding – from the supply of technology to design to market opportunities. Once you get to that next stage, what you then have is a clear project definition and preferred model and design. We’re looking at this next stage to take somewhere in the order of four to five months.”
Dr Grierson said either processing option had advantages. He said processing straw through aerobic digestion opened the door for production of a variety of renewable gas and liquid-fuel products for use in different applications. “To put the scope of what we’re considering into context, we might have the theoretical potential to provide 6.3 percent of Victoria’s entire industrial natural-gas consumption,” he said. Dr Grierson said a solid-fuel valorisation system might involve creating a range of products, ranging from a bio-coal product, that looked and behaved similar to coal, through to a carbon-rich biochar to place into soil, as well as a vast range of products manipulated by temperature and processing. Continued page 3
ININTHIS ISSUE • Crisis accommodation • Quantong residents stand strong • Football-netball action THIS ISSUE • Vaccines at work plan • Ararat business awards • Caccaviello sets benchmark Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
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