Bio Natural Gas BioNG
SIRIM's
BioNG, the world’s first natural gas derived from palm oil mill effluent (POME)
HOT GAS
IN TOWN.
After
eight years of research, SIRIM’s palm oil mill effluent (POME) BioNG project is
now ready for commercialisation. There are two important reasons why natural
gas became such an important energy source for Malaysia. Firstly, natural gas
has about 30 per cent more energy per kilogramme than oil, which was the most
widely used fuel for electricity generation back in the 80’s. Secondly,
although methane itself is very polluting, a highly efficient gas-fired power station can be up to 70% less damaging to the environment than
other hydrocarbon-fired power plants.
Malaysia’s palm oil industry generates some 140 million tonnes
of biomass every year. Much of this waste is effluent generated by palm oil
mills, which is generally left to decompose in open ponds where it releases
some 67 million cubic metres of methane into the atmosphere annually. Eight
years ago, SIRIM decided to find a way to capture, store and refine all this
methane so that it could be used as an alternative to natural gas in gas-fired
power stations and NGV vehicles. The project culminated with a pilot plant on
Carey Island, Selangor that was established in cooperation with Sime Darby
Research.
It might seem counter-intuitive given its origins, but BioNG is
actually as versatile and efficient as petroleum natural gas. It burns a clean,
blue flame that is at least 95 per cent CH 4 methane, with carbon dioxide,
oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide making up the rest. In comparison,
hydrocarbon natural gas is typically only 93 per cent methane, with the rest
comprising carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other hydrocarbon gases. Indeed, nearly
five per cent of petroleum natural gas is actually made up of other alkanes,
which makes it even more polluting.
What is really attractive about BioNG is the way it could not
only reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released by Malaysia’s palm oil
industry overnight, but also reduce the use of hydrocarbonbased liquified
natural gas (LNG) in Malaysia’s energy and transportation sectors. For all
intents and purposes, BioNG and LNG are almost identical in chemical
composition and energy density. The only real difference between them is that
BioNG is carbon neutral and environmentally harmless, and LNG is not.
But that is a BIG difference.
BioNG could have a green impact on not just one, but three of
the country’s most polluting industries. That’s why SIRIM has recommended that
BioNG be included as a bioeconomy entry point project under the Economic
Transformation Plan (ETP). The process for turning POME into BioNG is fairly
simple: effluent is channelled into a covered anaerobic pond equipped with a
pump that sucks the gas released from the pond’s surface and blows it
through a series of purification chambers. These chambers filter out impurities
like hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and moisture. At the end of the process,
the purified gas is compressed into a high-pressure storage tank with an
attached dispenser.
Unlike wind and solar energy sources, BioNG can be efficiently
stored and transported in CNG cylinders. A typical CNG tube trailer can move
about 2,000 cubic metres of BioNG, which is equivalent to about 1.5 tons of LNG
. Also, unlike hydrocarbon natural gas tapped from underground or undersea
wells, BioNG does not need costly pipelines and engineering heroics to bring
the gas to the surface. Everything is processed in situ.
Energy
security
As energy projects go, it does not really get much easier than
BioNG. However, product pricing remains a challenge because the local market
for natural gas is distorted by subsidies.
In any case, Malaysia is going to need all the gas it can get
over the next decade: by 2020, the government expects the country to need at
least six gigawatts of new generation capacity, 25 per cent more than in 2009.
And there won’t be enough gas to generate it.
Currently, nearly 50 per cent of the country’s electricity comes
from gas-fired power plants. But with gas production rapidly declining at 12
per cent per year , the country has become increasingly reliant on imported
coal. Should a geopolitical crisis destabilise world coal markets, the price
for coal would skyrocket
and Malaysia would find itself in a very unpleasant position.
This risky outlook has led to flagging investments in industries such as glass,
plastics and semi-conductor manufacturing.
For investors, it is vital that Malaysia be able to turn to
other imported fuel sources at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, this can only
work if those alternatives were to be sold at unsubsidised prices. This is one
of the reasons why subsidies are being gradually eliminated. Admittedly,
Malaysia’s BioNG capacity will never be able to meet the natural gas needs of
the whole country. However, BioNG will give the country some measure of energy
security and reduce its reliance on coal and gas imports.
As a complementary source of feedstock for gas-fired power
plants, BioNG is perfect. Plantation owners stand to gain a lot from producing
BioNG. Besides reducing their carbon footprint overnight, BioNG can also be
sold to energy producers and vehicle refilling stations.
Greener
cars
While there are several ways to reduce CO 2 emissions from
electricity generation (say, by encouraging the use of renewable energy),
reducing CO2 emissions from transportation is not so easy. Sure, there have
been some modest innovations intransportation over the past two decades, but
let’s face it: hybrids still need petrol, biodiesels still need to be mixed
with diesel and electric vehicles still need to be charged off the grid with
electricity generated from hydrocarbon fuels.
Admirable as these innovations are, they are still based on
nonrenewable energy sources. Unless you drive a natural gas vehicle (NGV) that
runs on
BioNG, that is, which is the perfect substitute for regular
natural gas in NGVs, and it is carbon neutral. Once it is properly refined,
BioNG has an energy content that is similar to petrol or diesel – minus the
environmental damage.
With about 50,000 natural gas vehicles (NGVs) on the road,
Malaysia currently ranks 22nd in the world for the number of natural gas
vehicles (NGV) it has on its roads. NGVs on Malaysian roads comprise a mere 0.5
per cent of the total number of vehicles in Malaysia, which is better than
neighbouring Singapore (0.05 per cent) but less than world NGV policy leaders
such as Iran (30.1 per cent), Argentina (14.6 per cent) and Thailand (3.8 per
cent).
Nonetheless, NGVs are gaining popularity in Malaysia, and for
good reason: based on current fuel prices, the typical petrol car costs about
23 sen per kilometre to run. An NGV is estimated to cost less than half that
amount to operate, even at subsidised prices. Throwing the government’s 25 per
cent road tax rebate for NGVs plus the availability of a carbon-neutral fuel
like BioNG and consumers will be scrambling to own one.
Once the subsidies go, NGV will make even more sense to
consumers and commercial users. The future seems bright for BioNG.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.