Bioenergy

New technology is turning sludge from waste water into valuable bio-fuel with environmental and financial benefits for a Southland meat processing plant.

It's a bubbling fluidised bed boiler, well-proven overseas for its ability to handle low quality fuels. The 8.5MW unit was installed at Silver Fern Farms' Finegand plant by Energy For Industry under a build, own, operate agreement.

Ernslaw Bio-Energy's new mobile wood chipper means the Central Otago company is well-placed to take advantage of an expected increase in the use of wood-chip boilers.

The company bought the $250,000 German-made Heizohack HM10-500 KT chipper and the John Deere 7530 tractor which powers it in 2008 with the help of a business grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

This is an up-to-date list of all the biodiesel producers participating in the Biodiesel Grants Scheme.