LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW

shaggs · 9th February 2008, 10:49 PM

G'day all,
This mainly applies to the guys in Qld and Northern NSW.
I just caught a segment on ABC's LANDLINE (Oz channel 2). They did a segment on how they are not going to burn sugar cane soon, rather harvest it fully then use the waste to generate power in a power stations. It was a sort of win/win situation for the environment/farmers.
Anyways, they had a guys on who stated they are also going to use the prolific weed Camphor Laurels they have in these rural regions to fuel the stations as well. Another win/win for the power company and environment.
This guy said they are currently looking for suitable contractors to harvest the masses of tree and process them ready for the power station.
May be worth looking into for the local guys!!!
I think Landline gets repeated on ABC2 on monday night if you have digital.
Good Luck

Ekka · 9th February 2008, 10:58 PM

Yes, we have an eco generator here at Jacobs Well.

Eco coz it's fuelled by tree waste etc.

It's like a blast furnace, however it did have financial difficulties .... a lot of the green tip waste goes there now.

Sean Freeman · 9th February 2008, 11:18 PM

Its funny I was in Jacobs Well two days last week assessing trees at the Tourist Park there...I'll have to chase up the info on the eco generator...BTW really excellent Fish and Chips there

Ekka · 10th February 2008, 01:14 AM

Yeah, but the mozzies carry you away.

TreeDimensional · 10th February 2008, 09:13 AM

Shaggs, thanks for posting that info. In Sask. the Power Corp has constructed huge wind generators farms. Too windy for windmills?

Another Bio project thats in the works is a ethanol plant for Bio-mass. The primary source material will be woodchips and saw dust waste from sawmills.
Nipawin.com - Biomass Ethanol

One of the first Bio projects in Western Canada is a ethanol plant in conjunction with a cattle feedlot. Pound-Maker - Canadian Integrated Feedlot/Fuel Ethanol Facility

I guess we have to get out of the me/now mentality and adopt a grandchildren/later attitude.

In the last 30 years we have seen our weather patterns change. I was blaming the former Soviet Union for messing with the climate. Now theres no USSR, and the climate is still screwy, I may have been wrong. In the last few years the weather has become wilder with dramatic swings in temperature. The old saying here was "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes, I't will change". Now the statement of choice is "I don't mind the hot, and I don't mind the cold, but I sure hate the wind". I think the latter must be true, now I walk witha permanent lean.

Quintrex · 11th February 2008, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ekka

Yeah, but the mozzies carry you away.

If they burn enough Camphor Laurel, the mozzies won't be such a problem.

By the way, cane toads have been found in the Sutherland Shire, southern Sydney, and on the northern beaches lately.
Thanks Qld!

Sean Freeman · 11th February 2008, 05:11 AM

The landline story was an interesting one but it is focussed on the Mills generating their own and excess electrical power, the use of Camphors and other "forest waste" is related to that combustion process.

As far as I can find out Jacobs Well along with a number of other landfill sites is being trialed for electrical generation through combustion of landfill gas...no timber products being burnt there. I personally think the landfill gas burning concept is a great use for what is potentially a very dangerous byproduct of our mad wasteful lifestyles.

As for the cane toads Quintrex well as the number plates tell you Victoria is the place to be...soooooooo they're just making their way down there, unfortunate that NSW is in the way (as usual!

)

Ekka · 15th February 2008, 01:29 PM

Jacobs Well burns the wood, however the tips have/are installing methane gas collectors as fuel for electricity generation.

The Jacobs Well one is part of the sugar mill and the by products of cane including molasses can be burnt to generate electricity. They have hi-tech smoke filters making it clean. Sometimes at the tips they dont even mulch it anymore and load it into huge trucks and take it down to Jacobs Well ... other times they mulch it then take it, depends who the contractor is.

Then at the Jacobs Well site they let it dry out some more. Apparently the furnace is really hot, like a blast furnace so everything burns including palms.

Also, if you are ever working the area check this out, last time was $5/tonne to dump there.

And you'll occassionally see large trucks loaded with crap like palms head down there to dump ... wasn't worth the petrol or time with my little truck but if you had a big semi full of cocos by all means.

I do know they have some money troubles, not sure how but it has a number of times made the media and almost got shut down as was expensive to run it or something, or perhaps not enough cane fuel for it as cane farms close?

Sean Freeman · 15th February 2008, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the info Eric

I cac't find anything online..who runs it Council or private? I will be at the Caravan Park again, maybe not next week but definately before the end of the year, I'll set aside time to visit the furnace.....there was a similar set up just outside Coventry in the UK, it also had many money problems stemming mainly from the expensive establishment costs and on going running costs being hard to match by the income generated through the electricity generated! But still I feel with suitable scrubbers and filters better than burying the trash (the Coventry site burnt all kinds of rubbish).

You're right about the cane farmers and the boom bust thing for them crazy monoculture.

Ekka · 15th February 2008, 08:59 PM

It's called Rocky Point Sean not Jacobs Well, sorry.

But it's near there.

Here's the google links you need to check.

Rocky Point Mill and Co-generation Plant - Google Search

And from this link: http://www.csiro.au/files/files/pgce.pdf

Quote:

There are two value added processes that occur at the Rocky Point Mill. The first being the production
of ethanol and the second being the co-generation plant. The Rocky Point Mill can use sugar cane and
sorghum to produce ethanol. Ethanol produced by the Mill will become more feasible commencing
July 2008, with the upgrade of the mill and installation of appropriate capital equipment. Ethanol
provides an opportunity to put a base level price for cane particularly when sugar market prices are
below cost of production. A significant challenge for the use of cane for ethanol production will be the
disposal of dunder, without this the production of ethanol is not feasible for the Mill.
The Cogeneration plant at the Mill is owned and operated by Babcock and Brown and is a ?Green
Power? accredited generator. The plant generates 30MW of green energy using 30 to 35 tonne/hour
of green and woody waste (depending on the moisture content). When using the processed cane (40
t/h bagasse) and some waste (10 t/h) it generates 20MW of green energy and 70 tonnes of steam/hr
which is used to power the Rocky Point Mill and Distillery. Additionally it produces purified water by
using reverse Osmosis treatment of STP effluent.
-
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
450,000
500,000
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Year
Cane Crushed (tons)
-
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
Sugar Make (tons)
Cane Crushed
Sugar Make Actual
62
The Rocky Point Green Power plant has a broad aim to be a ?sustainable practice organisation? and
it achieves this through two approaches. Firstly, all inputs to Rocky Point Green Power are relatively
low quality secondary resources (eg. wastes) whilst almost 100% of the outputs are value-added byproducts
from lower grade secondary resource inputs (outputs include electricity to the grid, steam
to Rocky Point Mill and Distillery and purified water). Purified water is available as a value-added
by-product on-site. Secondly, it has endeavoured to have strong local community links through colocation
of the plant with compatible facilities (i.e. inputs from the Mill and outputs used at the Mill
and Distillery). This can be further enhanced with the potential of downstream facilities to co-locate
with existing facilities (for example light manufacturing) or for all the outputs of the Plant to be used
locally, eg. water could be used by the aquaculture industry or other crops that require higher grade
water than currently available.
The Plant was built to operate for 20 years (from 2001 to 2020). Current feedstock investigations have
shown that this is still an accurate time horizon. Importantly, at present 30% of feedstock is from the
Mill (Bagasse) if this product was not available it would require the Energy plant to source extra green
and woody wastes from the surrounding local councils, which it believes is possible

dguntertrees · 18th February 2008, 03:05 AM

Thanks Ekka,

Frontier are just getting into Palm work, and I was wondering what to do with the waste as, at present, we recycle everything...this is good news.

DG

azrael · 18th February 2008, 03:24 AM

I saw something early last year on ABCTV on genetically modified yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae) which would ferment the pentoses ... the C4 sugars ... to alcohol (C4 's are found in grasses & weeds).

In searching for same found these links...
News in Science - GM bugs may boost biofuel production - 18/10/2006

This link outlines the research behind the use of lignocellulose (and the C5 & C6 sugars) for ethanol production ... from products like sugar-cane bagasse.
http://www.ausbiotech.org/UserFiles/...7_BIOFUELS.pdf

This is a presention/interview with the co-founder of the Microbiogen developmental research company, Ryde ... at a sitting of the "Future Oil Supply Inquiry" in July 2006
Senator Barnaby Joyce

9th February 2008, 10:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
shaggs Mature tree Join Date: May 2007 Location: sydney Posts: 461	LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW G'day all, This mainly applies to the guys in Qld and Northern NSW. I just caught a segment on ABC's LANDLINE (Oz channel 2). They did a segment on how they are not going to burn sugar cane soon, rather harvest it fully then use the waste to generate power in a power stations. It was a sort of win/win situation for the environment/farmers. Anyways, they had a guys on who stated they are also going to use the prolific weed Camphor Laurels they have in these rural regions to fuel the stations as well. Another win/win for the power company and environment. This guy said they are currently looking for suitable contractors to harvest the masses of tree and process them ready for the power station. May be worth looking into for the local guys!!! I think Landline gets repeated on ABC2 on monday night if you have digital. Good Luck

9th February 2008, 10:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 6,815	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Yes, we have an eco generator here at Jacobs Well. Eco coz it's fuelled by tree waste etc. It's like a blast furnace, however it did have financial difficulties .... a lot of the green tip waste goes there now. __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

9th February 2008, 11:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,638	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Its funny I was in Jacobs Well two days last week assessing trees at the Tourist Park there...I'll have to chase up the info on the eco generator...BTW really excellent Fish and Chips there __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

10th February 2008, 01:14 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 6,815	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Yeah, but the mozzies carry you away. __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

10th February 2008, 09:13 AM	#5 (permalink)
TreeDimensional Banned Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 385	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Shaggs, thanks for posting that info. In Sask. the Power Corp has constructed huge wind generators farms. Too windy for windmills? Another Bio project thats in the works is a ethanol plant for Bio-mass. The primary source material will be woodchips and saw dust waste from sawmills. Nipawin.com - Biomass Ethanol One of the first Bio projects in Western Canada is a ethanol plant in conjunction with a cattle feedlot. Pound-Maker - Canadian Integrated Feedlot/Fuel Ethanol Facility I guess we have to get out of the me/now mentality and adopt a grandchildren/later attitude. In the last 30 years we have seen our weather patterns change. I was blaming the former Soviet Union for messing with the climate. Now theres no USSR, and the climate is still screwy, I may have been wrong. In the last few years the weather has become wilder with dramatic swings in temperature. The old saying here was "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes, I't will change". Now the statement of choice is "I don't mind the hot, and I don't mind the cold, but I sure hate the wind". I think the latter must be true, now I walk witha permanent lean.

11th February 2008, 05:11 AM	#7 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,638	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW The landline story was an interesting one but it is focussed on the Mills generating their own and excess electrical power, the use of Camphors and other "forest waste" is related to that combustion process. As far as I can find out Jacobs Well along with a number of other landfill sites is being trialed for electrical generation through combustion of landfill gas...no timber products being burnt there. I personally think the landfill gas burning concept is a great use for what is potentially a very dangerous byproduct of our mad wasteful lifestyles. As for the cane toads Quintrex well as the number plates tell you Victoria is the place to be...soooooooo they're just making their way down there, unfortunate that NSW is in the way (as usual!) __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

15th February 2008, 01:29 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 6,815	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Jacobs Well burns the wood, however the tips have/are installing methane gas collectors as fuel for electricity generation. The Jacobs Well one is part of the sugar mill and the by products of cane including molasses can be burnt to generate electricity. They have hi-tech smoke filters making it clean. Sometimes at the tips they dont even mulch it anymore and load it into huge trucks and take it down to Jacobs Well ... other times they mulch it then take it, depends who the contractor is. Then at the Jacobs Well site they let it dry out some more. Apparently the furnace is really hot, like a blast furnace so everything burns including palms. Also, if you are ever working the area check this out, last time was $5/tonne to dump there. And you'll occassionally see large trucks loaded with crap like palms head down there to dump ... wasn't worth the petrol or time with my little truck but if you had a big semi full of cocos by all means. I do know they have some money troubles, not sure how but it has a number of times made the media and almost got shut down as was expensive to run it or something, or perhaps not enough cane fuel for it as cane farms close? __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

15th February 2008, 02:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,638	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Thanks for the info Eric I cac't find anything online..who runs it Council or private? I will be at the Caravan Park again, maybe not next week but definately before the end of the year, I'll set aside time to visit the furnace.....there was a similar set up just outside Coventry in the UK, it also had many money problems stemming mainly from the expensive establishment costs and on going running costs being hard to match by the income generated through the electricity generated! But still I feel with suitable scrubbers and filters better than burying the trash (the Coventry site burnt all kinds of rubbish). You're right about the cane farmers and the boom bust thing for them crazy monoculture. __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

18th February 2008, 03:05 AM	#11 (permalink)
dguntertrees Semi-mature vigorous tree Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mudgeeraba, SE Queensland Posts: 122	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW Thanks Ekka, Frontier are just getting into Palm work, and I was wondering what to do with the waste as, at present, we recycle everything...this is good news. DG

18th February 2008, 03:24 AM	#12 (permalink)
azrael Banned Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Earth Australia Posts: 335	Re: LANDLINE story, work in Qld, Nth NSW I saw something early last year on ABCTV on genetically modified yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae) which would ferment the pentoses ... the C4 sugars ... to alcohol (C4 's are found in grasses & weeds). In searching for same found these links... News in Science - GM bugs may boost biofuel production - 18/10/2006 This link outlines the research behind the use of lignocellulose (and the C5 & C6 sugars) for ethanol production ... from products like sugar-cane bagasse. http://www.ausbiotech.org/UserFiles/...7_BIOFUELS.pdf This is a presention/interview with the co-founder of the Microbiogen developmental research company, Ryde ... at a sitting of the "Future Oil Supply Inquiry" in July 2006 Senator Barnaby Joyce

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