Bioenergy

Pacific Wood Products (PWP) installed Ecogate control systems on their extraction fans. Through the use of air flow control gates and a variable speed drive connected to each fan that adjusts to meet the actual workload, PWP reduced their energy use substantially.

Energy savings were immediate from week one. The system will be paid for in be just over 4 years, and long-term they benefit from lower energy bills. Equally important, PWP will cut its annual CO₂ emissions by 45 tonnes.

After a long period on the sidelines, gasification is attracting new interest.

For businesses with ready access to a good source of wood fuel - and increasingly other forms of biomass - it could be a very attractive way of producing low-cost and low-emission heat and electricity. This article overviews the technology and shares the experience of the ‘advance guard' driving this technology forward in New Zealand.

The Mt Maunganui-based facility has installed a dual-fuel boiler that has reduced natural gas usage by utilising waste products from their factory. Now they are burning all their waste vegetable oils and tallow. The new boiler reduces their CO2 emissions by 1,378 tonnes per year.

Biofuels emit less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. So your choice of fuel can help the environment, without compromising how your vehicle performs.

One of the easiest things New Zealand drivers can do to help the environment is to start using sustainable biofuels. Your use of biofuels will help reduce the greenhouse gases from your vehicle.

Biodiesel is one kind of biofuel. Biodiesel is similar to ordinary diesel, but is made from vegetable oils or animal fats. When mixed with ordinary diesel, this makes a bidoiesel blend.