Israel’s Biogas Production Plant

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Biogas production takes place in these two Insulated digestion chambers.
Biogas production takes place in these two Insulated digestion chambers.
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[2] Pumps force the farm waste slurry through heat exchangers.
[2] Pumps force the farm waste slurry through heat exchangers.
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Cattle at this feedlot supply the raw materials
Cattle at this feedlot supply the raw materials

Early last year, two of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ editors visited Israel as part of a solar tour sponsored by this magazine and Michigan’s Jordan College. That Mideast nation, even though oil-poor, does receive an abundance of sunshine … which is widely used to supplement more conventional energy sources. But, while the Israeli people are maintaining their position in the vanguard of solar development, they are continuing to look into the potential of other alternative forms of power as well. In fact, the Kefar Gil’adi kibbutz–on Israel’s northern frontier–incorporates what may very well be the largest thermophilic biogas production plant in the world!

Biogas (composed largely of methane, carbon dioxide, and a bit of water vapor) is processed from organic waste. Closely related to natural gas, the “scavenged” fuel can be used to power stoves, heaters, lamps, refrigerators, and internal combustion engines.

Israel’s methane gas project has been an ongoing affair for nearly two years. Initial research was carried out on a 35-cubic-foot digester … then two 350-cubic-foot experimental plants were built. Finally, in August of 1979, a 7,063-cubic-foot biogas “factory” was put into operation. Though it’s not completed yet (the plant is actually a practical “working” research project), the system has been producing gas on a regular basis all through its “debugging” phase.

A Simple Process…

The people responsible for the success of the biogas project don’t look at the plant as merely a source of energy. Instead, they take a wholistic approach. The operation started with a 500-head cattle feedlot–where disposal of waste was a concern–and, in effect, converted that “problem” into usable energy … enough to replace about half a ton of fuel oil a day. That, of course, Is all well and good, but the researchers are also feeding the spent manure (after it’s been “degassed”) to fish being raised in the farm’s breeding ponds … and then using the fish for human consumption!

  • Published on Jan 1, 1981
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