A biogas plant fueled largely by chicken manure was launched at a farm south of Berlin late last month.
Some US$14.5 million (NT$470 million) was invested in the project, which is expected to meet the energy requirements of 4,600 households when it becomes fully operational.
Located 100km south of the German capital, the innovative plant has been designed to produce heat and fertilizer as well as electricity.
PHOTO: AP
Some 70 percent of the energy comes from chicken manure and the rest from corn and grass.
Biogas refers to gas that is produced when organic material is broken down, usually in the absence of oxygen. It's able to provide a renewable energy source and can be used to produce electricity or heated water.
The project is intended to serve as a model for the egg and chicken industry, said Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, whose department put up almost 10 percent of the cost.
It's an advancement on other biogas plants which can only use a maximum of 30 percent chicken manure because of its high nitrogen content, which can pollute water.
The new plant has a separator that filters nitrogen, sand and nutrients from the manure, allowing it to process more than double the previous amounts. The nutrients are changed into fertilizers.
The farm contains two plants, each housing 35,000 chickens that produce 25,000 tonnes of manure a year.
The energy produced from the biogas plant will be used to provide electricity for the farm buildings as well as local administration offices.
(STAFF WRITER, WITH DPA)
一間主要以雞糞作為燃料的沼氣工廠，上個月底在柏林南部一處農場啟用。
這個計畫斥資約一千四百五十萬美元（新台幣四億七千萬元），待工廠完全運作後，預計能滿足四千六百個家庭的用電量需求。
這個位在德國首都南方一百公里處的新興工廠除了發電外，也能產生熱能和生產肥料。
約有七成能源來自雞糞，其餘則來自玉米和牧草。
沼氣是有機物分解過後產生的氣體，過程中通常缺乏氧氣；沼氣能提供可再生能源，也能用來發電或將水加熱。
環境部長希格瑪．蓋布歐說，這項專案可以作為雞、蛋產業的示範，環境部贊助該專案將近一成的資金。
這對其他沼氣工廠來說是一大進步，因為雞肥的氮氣含量過高，而氮氣會污染水源，所以這些工廠至多僅能使用三成雞肥。
這間新工廠設有一個能從糞肥中過濾出氮氣、沙和養分的分離器，可讓產能增加一倍以上，養分則被轉化作成肥料。
該農場中有兩座工廠，各養殖三萬五千隻雞，一年能製造兩萬五千公噸糞肥。
沼氣工廠所生產的能源將提供該農場房舍及當地政府行政單位用電。
（德通社／翻譯：袁星塵）
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