PrintDanish biogas adventure in China
Before long, buses and taxis in a large Chinese town will drive around on
biogas produced using Danish technology. NIRAS, the fourth largest
engineering consultancy firm in Denmark, has won a contract for a biogas
plant which will produce biogas to the equivalent of 9,000 litres of diesel
per day.
The assignment was won as a consequence of a cooperation agreement with
NIRAS’ Chinese partner and both companies expect this order to lead to a
large number of plants. Preben Røgild Knudsen, senior consultant at NIRAS,
is very satisfied with the agreement: “China is facing a great
challenge in the energy sector and there is very significant potential for
biogas due to the large animal stocks in China. We have noticed a very
positive attitude to the technology we are introducing; biogas is well
known in China although the scale is much smaller and the gas is used in
households for cooking and lighting.”
The cooperation with NIRAS’ partner will lead to the transfer of Danish
technological know-how. In ten years, they will be able to erect the plants
according to Danish principles but, by this stage, NIRAS estimates that
they will have built more than 100 plants.
Preben Røgild Knudsen explains about the fuel: “If biogas is to be used
as a fuel it must be compressed to approx. 200 bar and, therefore, the CO2
content must be removed first. The Chinese have a plant which is capable of
this. We will provide the technology required to make the biogas and the
Chinese will provide the CO2 purification process themselves.”
It is, perhaps, a little ironic that the plants shall produce fuel from
biogas for buses and cars in China when Denmark – the pioneer in this field
– does not do it. Preben Røgild Knudsen also recognises an opportunity, in
the long term, for Denmark to be inspired by the Chinese use of biogas as a
fuel. Who knows? We may be able to import Chinese equipment for the
purification of CO2.
For further information, please contact Preben Røgild Knudsen (e-mail:
pre@niras.dk, tel.: +45-9630 6421 mobile: +45-4018 9806)