Cow Power
In March, The National Business Review rated Natural Systems Ltd the most exciting environmental technology company in New Zealand. Claire Le Couteur visits the company's founder, Christchurch engineer Ian Bywater FIPENZ, and his energy efficient dairying system.
Four years ago, Mr Bywater won an international award for his scheme to build an energy efficient dairying system. Since then he has achieved a New Zealand patent for BioGenCool and established a pilot plant on a Landcorp Farming Ltd dairy property in North Canterbury.
The BioGenCool process extracts the biogas (methane gas and carbon dioxide) from cow effluent using novel biodigester technology. After production it is then cleaned and used as fuel in a co-generation plant to generate electricity.
A farmer collecting effluent from 850 cows could save up to $30,000 per year in electricity costs by using BioGenCool. Scale that up, and Mr Bywater reckons New Zealand's four million dairy cows could yield 80 megawatts of power per day.
This case study is reproduced with permission from e.nz magazine. Subscriptions to e.nz are discounted for schools and TENZ members.
