LUSAKERT BIOGAS PLANT DESCRIPTIONThe first industrial size, state of the art, biogas plant based on organic waste from animal farming is already built as soon as loan guarantees to the Danish Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries ( IFU) is cleared from the Armenian side. The project in question is the Lusakert Biogas Plant (LBP). Energy production by LBP The LBP can process 220 ton per day of liquid poultry manure coming from Lusakert Pedigree Poultry Plant LLC (LPPP). The liquid manure will be processed in a 5.000m3 digester with a process temperature of 38oC. Under these conditions biogas with a methane content of around 70% is produced. The biogas drives a gas motor with a generator. The yearly electrical generating capacity is 6 GWh. Heat from the hot exhaust gas and cooling water to the gas engine is recovered. This thermal energy in the form of 90oC hot water represents another 8 GWh per year. Total energy production is therefore can amount for up 14 GWh per year. LBP thus represents the first serious renewable energy project in Armenia outside of hydro electricity. Global environmental impact of LBP The LBP-plant takes over from the lagoon system that is currently in use in LPPP for treating the large volume of manure coming from the farm. By burning the methane gas instead of letting it emit from the lagoons, the emission of greenhouse gasses are sharply reduced. In LBP’s- case the reduction is around 28 000 tons CO2 per year. This is documented in a comprehensive Project Design Document (PDD) and verified by the Norwegian Veritas who is accredited by the United Nations Framework of Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC). In September 2006 LBP was formally certified by UNFCCC under the Cleaner Development Mechanism (CDM). LBP is one of two CDM- projects in Armenia. As a certified CDM-project LBP can sell the CO2 reductions as Certified Emissions Reductions (CER). Half of the CERs are sold to the Danish State for the period 2008-2012 and represents an important revenue for LBP. Local environmental impact of LBP By treating the manure in an industrial way the emission of pollutants to the ground and to water is significantly reduced. The digester process destroys the most common pathogens found it manure such as the salmonella pathogen. The digester technology used by LBP allows the Armenian Environmental Authorities to impose better standards on the animal farming industry in Armenia. Organic fertilizer In the treatment of the manure in the digester the properties of the manure is changed in such a way that plants can more easily utilize the nutrients in the manure. When the salmonella pathogen is also destroyed the manure coming out of the digester is valuable as an organic fertilizer with some additional treatment. This will be a follow up project to the LBP which the Ministry of Agriculture and other organisations are very interested in. It is very important to improve much of the soil in Armenia and to increase agricultural production. LBP an important project for Armenia. The LBP- project is a pilot project in Armenia and will in many respects serve as a “lighthouse” leading the way for subsequent projects. A summary of the importance of LBP:
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