Impure Food Residues are a Valuable Energy Supplier

The cleanest method for dealing with food waste is without doubt to avoid it. However especially in industrial countries, such as Germany, the UK or the USA this has been achieved rather poorly so far. According to a study conducted in 2012 by the University of Stuttgart it can be assumed that in Germany alone a total volume of 11 million tons of food is disposed of by industry, wholesalers, large customers and private households every year. These are occasionally exploited in biogas plants, though the standard procedure is to just incinerate them or dispose of them – at least until now.
 
The cleantech company ENTRADE Energiesysteme AG from Dusseldorf has now conducted research commissioned by its British partner Tidy Planet Ltd. to find out whether it would be possible to use food waste to fuel small, compact E3 power plants in order to produce energy, heat or cooling. The Fuel Test Report by the Austrian Highterm Research Ges.mbH from Graz shows that food residues e. g. from hotels or the gastronomy can be used as combustible without particular regards. The renewable fuel mixture was previously dried and pressed into a kind of pellets by Tidy Planet and then mixed with regular wood pellets at a ratio of 2 to 8.
 
Electric and thermal energy can be gained from a supply of 19 kilograms per hour and at an overall efficiency of 85 per cent. In comparison to biogas plants it is an advantage that the waste does not have to be “homogenous”, as the E3 power plant operates at a temperature that can deal with packaging remains. Simultaneously unnecessary transports to the next disposal site are avoided due to the decentralized use of the compact power plant.
 
“We have the strong urge to find a sustainable solution to reduce the problem of landfills from food waste or by their environmentally harmful incineration”, says ENTRADE’s CEO Julien Uhlig. “With the E3 we give restaurants, hotels or airports around the world the chance to no longer pay for the disposal of food residues but to reprocess it intelligently and in an energetically efficient and environmentally friendly way. Thanks to its compact construction, the flexibility and the fully automated operation of the E3 power plant that is unique.”
 
ENTRADE