I attended the Seminar on Biodigesters and Carbon Finance at the Visitor’s Center, Ninoy Aquino Park in Quezon City last August 18, 2009. The seminar was organized by the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) in cooperation with the DENR.
The seminar aimed to educate representatives from different LGUs on the potential of biodigesters in managing biodegradable wastes from markets and slaughterhouses thru methane capture for power/heat generation or as a cheap alternative to using LPGs for cooking. The LCP also informed the attendees that they will provide technical and networking assistance to interested LGUs for project planning in the hope of aggregating all projects that will prosper from the seminar into one CDM project to facilitate the whole CDM application process.
In line with this goal, questionnaires for markets and slaughterhouses were distributed to each LGU so that the LCP may estimate the budgetary and technical requirements that each LGU should meet in pursuing its own biodigester project. The undersigned is now awaiting the accomplished questionnaire from the QC MDAD.
Biogas and Biodigesters
Mr. Paul Puthenpurekal, president of Solutions Using Renewable Energy Inc. (SURE) – a company engaged in providing renewable energy solutions, gave presentations on the importance of harnessing biogas, the opportunities of biodigester technology and examples of some of their biodigester projects in the country.
SURE offers the full range of developing, consulting, engineering, procurement, construction, start-up, operation and maintenance services to renewable energy projects in the fields of solar, hydro, wind, and biogas.
Biogas, which is mainly methane, is naturally produced from the digestion of organic materials in an oxygen-free environment. It is interesting to note that human manure has the highest gas yield among other sources of animal manure – ranging from 0.3-0.5 m3/kg/day, of which 69-74% is methane. This is the reason why there have been promising developments in combined septage/wastewater treatment & biodigester systems.
SURE has been in operation since 2004 and has constructed a 0.5 MW waste to energy project in Bantayan Island, Cebu, a biogas-slaughterhouse-wastewater treatment facility at the Asia Pacific Meat Processing Development Center, which is a UN-assisted project, and several small scale biogas digesters for pig farms and poultries. They also have ongoing projects in Sumilao, Bukidnon (1.2 MW) and in Ben Cat, Vietnam – their largest so far with a 2.5 MW capacity.
The company usually undertakes projects under a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme. The reason is that under a BOT scheme, potential CDM projects are given a larger project development timeframe of about 5-7 years, whereas otherwise, they would only be accorded 1 year to complete the project for it to be registered under CDM.
The company has extensive experience in constructing dome-type biodigesters. This type of biodigester does not require any mechanical device for stirring the accumulating substrate and ensuring its flow. It is designed in such a way that as gas start to build-up inside the dome, it pushes the substrate against its round walls thus creating flow.
Aside from biogas, biodigester systems also produce solid sludge as residue. This, however, has been tested to be 99.99% pathogen free for as long as the right level of temperature, retention time (minimum of 15 days), and anaerobic conditions are maintained. The sludge may be directly land-applied as organic fertilizer after reaching the desired moisture content.
From the experience of SURE, markets, restaurants and slaughterhouses are the best sites for small scale digesters in urban areas since these are large generators of wastes where a fairly acceptable level of compliance to waste segregation may be reached by integrating it as part of their business operations. Collection is also not as cumbersome as community-wide household collection.
Carbon Finance
The Hon. Mary Ann Lucille Sering, Undersecretary of the DENR, discussed the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as the primary market-based instrument to facilitate the compliance of Annex 1 countries (developed countries signatory to KP) to their emissions reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol (KP). She discussed the whole CDM registration process, the actors involved in each step of the process and the market for CERs (Certified Emission Reduction Units).
She emphasized that while the Philippines rank 7th worldwide (as of Nov. 2008) in terms of the total number of registered CDM projects, the country actually contributed only 1.66% (or 20) to the total of 1,207 CDM projects – 54% of which were registered from India and China. And out of the 20 projects registered in the Philippines, only two had started to earn carbon credits – the Quezon City Controlled Disposal Facility Biogas Emission Reduction Project and the NorthWind Bangui Bay Project in Ilocos Norte.
She mentioned that the primary barrier to the country’s participation in CDM was the people’s lack of awareness on the opportunities it present. She also stressed that the “Additionality” requirement for potential CDM projects leaves much gray area in its interpretation and enforcement that it delays projects already in the pipeline. The requirement states that the CDM status will be given only to those projects which cannot be implemented without it (CDM status), implying that those which can be carried out in the course of regular business (Business-As-Usual) are disqualified.
The market for carbon credits, according to her, will gain more demand considering that the first commitment period (2008-2012) of Annex 1 countries to meet their emissions reduction target is nearing its end. Experts speculate that carbon credits may average at a price of €29.00 in 2009-2012. Carbon credits sell for €15.62 as of end of December 2008.
Aside from the CDM, which ultimately serves the interest of Annex 1 countries in mitigating their emissions, Usec. Sering also touched on what she said was a more relevant issue to non-Annex 1 countries such as the Philippines – climate change adaptation. She was part of the Philippine delegation to the international climate talks led by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Bonn, Germany last August to negotiate our country’s concerns and demands in the drafting of an international agreement that would hopefully succeed the Kyoto Protocol at the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December of 2009.
She said they negotiated for an increased Adaptation Fund, which is currently pegged at only 2% of CERs. She said the amount they are negotiating does not even reach 2% of the military funds of the Annex 1 countries. She stressed that vulnerable nations, such as the Philippines, should be compensated for the economic costs of the ill-effects of global warming primarily caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries, even if it literally means paying a homeowner for the cost of transferring his house to a higher location to avoid rising sea levels.
Following are the PowerPoint Presentations used during the seminar.
Climate Change Impacts
Climate Change Impacts
Download here.
Biogas: Waste to Wealth
Biogas: from Waste to Wealth
Download here.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Model for Waste-to-Energy
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Model for Waste-to-Energy Projects
Download here.
CDM Overview
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Overview
Download here.
Questionnaire for Potential Biodigester Projects
Survey Questionnaire on Potential Biodigester Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Program ...
Download here.
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