Re: DIG-L: a note on "philosophical" vs. "technical" discussions

[aj574@detroit.freenet.org (Lowell Prag)]

info@ebl.co.uk ("Saq") said:

>Lowell
>
>In my view the US is about the same level as Europe in terms of knowledge
>but may be a bit behind in implementation. But that depends where you go. In
>the UK we are much further behind at the moment than the US and certainly
>the erst of Europe in terms of indsutrial units.
>
>There were extensive "energy" driven digestion programmes in US and the UK
>and most of the data you refer to has already been crunched, although much
>of it is out of date now. It could do with being reassessed I am sure. In
>the US the Gas Research Institute sponsored alot of work I was involved with
>and similarly the EC in Europe. There is data on waste, MSW, energy crops,
>catch crops, ag wastes etc. etc....don't forget we were supposed to have run
>out of oil by now!

Hi Stephen,

Can you tell me where on the www, to find this data?

>As for a more philosphical input.....I have recently been reviewing
>renewable energy options for digester applications in China and Central
>America.....you can get a carbon credit (worth cash) for the fossil fuel you
>displace by using biogas (the World Bank has a "prototype" fund). A few
>renewable energy projects in Costa Rica have already had carbon credits
>bought by Norway and Canada I believe, i.e. western courntries are taking
>CO2 production potential out of the system, even if they are not doing it in
>their own back yards. Perhaps more interestingly, you can get six times more
>carbon credits by using the methane that would otherwise be discharged to
>the environment if a waste or other material degrades naturally. I.e. if an
>effluent is currently dumped in open lagoons or is discharged and degrades
>anaerobically it will generate methane, which as you say is much worse than
>CO2 as a greenhouse gas. A new digester installation could receive up to 7
>times (well that's not exactly right but this is a philosophical discussion)
>the replacement CO2 fuel value in carbon credits and this could be a major
>incentive. It could of course be argued that the waste concerned might
>otherwise degrade aerobically (still some CO2 output), but it certainly
>coudl apply to many situations....its an idea we are toying with at the
>moment,  and it seems to have generated interest.....yet another incentive
>for more of what we all want.....digesters!

Yes, carbon credits are viable if 1) there is a way to enforce the
agreements and 2) it doesn't rapidly get us any further ahead, by the
trading of credits from more efficient users to less efficient users, as
has happened elsewhere with the carbon credit idea. 


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