Case studies

A 50kW wood pellet-fired boiler is proving considerably cheaper than electricity for heating the Bay of Plenty‘s 30 bed Titoki Healing Centre.

Fully automated and fed by a 3-tonne hopper topped up by the truckload, the system operates virtually hands-free.

Installation cost around $80,000. That compared more than favourably to the other main option, heat pumps, at around $90,000. Running costs are even more competitive at about $4,400 annually, almost a third of the costs estimated for running heat pumps.

After a long period on the sidelines, gasification is attracting new interest.

For businesses with ready access to a good source of wood fuel - and increasingly other forms of biomass - it could be a very attractive way of producing low-cost and low-emission heat and electricity. This article overviews the technology and shares the experience of the ‘advance guard' driving this technology forward in New Zealand.

Soil moisture metering is a good investment for farmers who want to stop over-irrigating and cut their energy costs, according to Lincoln University Dairy Farm manager Peter Hancox.

Installing a soil moisture metering system helped him avoid unnecessarily irrigating an 80-hectare block on at least 32 days during the 2008/2009 growing season-and cut his power bill by more than $2000.

After installing a permanent magnetic stirrer in their gas-fired furnace, the aluminium extrusion and fabrication manufacturer, MCK Metals is saving 6.8 per cent in gas energy consumption.

The permanent magnetic stirrer not only reduces the melting time required, it also increases the amount of aluminium melted per hour.

In addition to the energy savings, the stirrer delivers other benefits: its maintenance free, easy to operate, and has a large circulation capacity. It also reduces wastage and improves product quality.