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Several business opportunities with high profit making potential, which are economic
catalysts and components to the Strategy
for African Countries are listed in following table.
| a-
SHEA BUTTER (5,
6, 7,
11, 12,
13)
b- BLUE GOLD (14,
15, 16,
17, 18,
19)
c- FREEZE-DRIED PAPAIN (20,
21, 22
and here)
d-
KENAF (23,
24)
e- VEGETABLE OIL (25,
26, 27,
28)
f- CEREALS (30,
31, 32,
33)
g- FRUITS (34,
35, 36,
37, 38,
39, 40,
42, 43,
44, 45,
46)
h- ESSENTIAL OILS (47,
48, 49,
50, 51,
52)
i- ROOTS & TUBERS (54,
55, 56,
57, 58,
59, 60,
61, 62,
63, 64)
j-
FOWL BREEDING (66,
67, 68,
69, 70,
71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
k- FISH FARMING (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
l- BIOMASS ENERGY (89, 90, 91 , |
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BIOMASS ENERGY: PART
II - BIOGAS AS A STRATEGIC SOURCE OF ENERGY TO DEVELOPING IN AFRICAN COUNTRIES
The several business opportunities / projects above outlined need energy - from gas, wood, or electricity - to be implemented. Without the availability of cheap and sustainable energy, projects cannot be successfully carried out.
Biomass helps generate renewable energy. A simple definition of Biomass reads as follows: Plant material, vegetation, agricultural or animal wastes used as fuel or energy source.
That definition gives a broad idea of the great potential that biomass represents to producing "on-the-spot" energy.
A global introduction to Biomass Applied To Developing African Countries is here to review
Electricity is the most used energy, which could be generated from several systems such as, atomic reactors, dam, oil, coal or gas powered electricity generators. Oil could be vegetable oil or fossil oil (petroleum). The same for gas.
Renewable energy is "reconstituted" year after year, while natural resources such as oil and coal are finite and nonrenewable. Renewable energy encompasses production of ethanol, biogas, biodiesel, biomass power and industrial process energy. And the utilization of sunshine and wind's power to producing electricity.
Currently, most of the time, in African countries, industrial concerns are located in the vicinity of big cities leaving the countryside bared of
industrial plants (to transform crops and livestock into valued added products) because it is too costly to establish thousands of kilometers of landlines to distribute electricity (generated by "classic" sources such as oil, hydropower, and coal) to rural areas.
- BIOGAS: THE PERFECT CHOICE TO DEVELOPING RURAL AREAS
The quantities of agricultural wastes left unexploited in African rural areas is huge. That is most unfortunate as these wastes are raw material to producing renewable energy - click here for more
Indeed, millions of cubic metres of methane, in the form of swamp gas or biogas, are produced every year by the decomposition of organic matter, both animal and vegetable. Biogas is almost identical to the natural gas pumped out of the ground by the oil companies and used for heating (Northern countries) and cooking worldwide.
On a small-scale basis, farm wastes put into a warmed, dampened and dark tank [that is anaerobic conditions] would produce: (1)
methane / biogas; and (2) a good fertilizer. The owner / producer gets three products from agricultural wastes: a gas to heat and light the home and a fuel to generate electricity and power equipments and machines [27, 28, 85, 86, 87]!
- ENGINE TO PRODUCING BIOGAS: BIO-DIGESTER
Anaerobic conditions allow methane-producing bacteria to flourish while inhibiting those that produce foul odours. The undigested solid residue has not lost any nutrient value and is suitable for storage followed by land application, or for sale as compost or soil conditioner. The supernatant liquor is generally pathogen free and can be used for pasture irrigation without the drawbacks associated with raw effluent dispersal. Anaerobic digestion does not significantly reduce waste volume, so the same amount of waste that enters the biodigester leaves it each day.
A biodigester is essentially a heated tank into which manure and water slurry are directed. Oxygen is excluded to allow anaerobic bacteria to liquefy the volatile organic compounds in the mixture and then convert the resulting simple organic acids into a methane-rich biogas -
a process analogous to that occurring in the rumen (the first stomach of a cow) in which vegetables intakes are broken down anaerobically by mixed microbial populations.
Using biogas in an internal combustion engine presents some problems. It must be of a sufficient energy value and cleaned of corrosive contaminants. This will usually mean scrubbing out the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide content. This can be done chemically. For an internal combustion engine, the biogas will also need to be compressed to give it a pressure suitable for induction. The compressor can be mechanically driven off the cogeneration set.
Next delivery (November 15, 2006 / Issue 91) will give indications on how to manufacture a small biodigester and related questions.
| MORE
ON BIOGAS ENERGY |
1-
21st Century Essential Guide to Methane and Biogas
Landfill Methane and Manure for Energy, AgStar Program, Recovery and Mitigation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions
by World Spaceflight News (CD-ROM - Mar 5, 2005)
2- Running a Biogas Program
by David Fulford
3- Making A Reality of Biogas Potential
by Jerome Goldstein (Digital - Dec 31, 2004) - HTML
4- A Chinese Biogas Manual: Popularising Technology in the Countryside
by Ariane van Buren
5-
The biogas handbook
by David House
6-
Biogas: What It Is, How It Is Made, How to Use It
by Food and Agriculture Organization of the (Paperback - Jan 1985) |
7- Biogas systems: Principles and applications
by K. M Mittal
8- Biogas:
The Indian NGOs' Experience
9- Landfilling of Waste: Biogas
by T. Christensen, T. H. Christensen, R. Cossu, and R. Stegmann (Hardcover - Jan 15, 1996)
10- Building a Better Biogas Unit
(Better Framing Series, No 32/F3028)
by Food and Agriculture Organization of the (Paperback - Jun 1987)
11- Biogas Replaces Natural Gas For Vehicles
by Anonymous (Digital - Oct 31, 2005) - HTML
12- China, azolla propagation and small-scale biogas technology
Report on an FAO/UNDP study tour to the People's Rsepublic of China
by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Paperback - 1978)
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Adobe
Acrobat Reader is available here
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companies, government
agencies,
international development
agencies - to make contact through the Free Access Support Console availble at this link
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