Sustainable energy specialist Earthmill is hosting an insight evening for farmers, manufacturers and other high energy users who want to find out more about the benefits of combined heat and power (CHP) renewable energy and its potential to future-proof businesses against rising energy costs.
The free event is being held from 7pm on Thursday 14 January at Chester Rugby Club and will provide information on how the latest CHP renewable energy technology can help combat ever-increasing fuel costs.
Earthmill is the exclusive supplier of the state of the art, Finnish-built Volter CHP systems across Yorkshire, Cheshire, Mid and North Wales.
The low-carbon technology can be used to heat dairies, pig and poultry units and industrial facilities. Using a specially designed reactor, sustainable woodchip is heated to around 1100°C to produce a flammable gas. The clean-burning ‘biogas’ is then cooled and filtered to fuel a gas engine which drives a generator and produces electricity. A large amount of heat is produced in the process but unlike in conventional power stations, it is not wasted. The thermal or heat energy is transferred into water which can then be used on farms to heat dairies, or pig or poultry sheds, making the process more than 88 per cent efficient.
Earthmill managing director Steve Milner said: “Small scale CHP isn’t a new concept in Europe but it’s still in its infancy in the UK. Since we launched our CHP division earlier this year we’ve had a lot of interest from both the farming and manufacturing sectors but, understandably, people have lots of questions about it.
“Rising energy costs are a major issue for many businesses and by offering these sessions we’re hoping to help people understand how they can get paid to produce heat and power – what government subsidies are available – and how CHP can help businesses in reducing their carbon footprint.”
The event will provide the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the technology and various aspects of CHP including: how it works; the costs and returns and the subsidies available. The potential applications of the technology, including how systems can be tailored to supply heat for most commercial purposes including pig and poultry farms, wood processors and industrial units, will also be discussed.
