Researchers at Hewlett-Packard (HP), one of the world’s largest IT companies are planning to run their data centres on cow manure.

Cow manure produces large volumes of methane gas which is considerably more polluting to the environment than carbon dioxide. One cow produces enough waste every day to power three households’ televisions. A large diary herd of several thousand could generate enough power to run an entire data centre.

Vast data centres are growing at a staggering rate due to the amount of information being stored online. Data centres are essentially buildings full of servers (computers) storing data. As the internet grows, the numbers of server farms will multiply. All data sent on the internet has to be stored on a server.

These centres consume huge quantities of energy and generate large amounts of heat. Farmers could earn hundreds of thousands of pounds pre year by selling waste-derived power to a data centre.

Solar panels and wind farms are already powering some data centres. The Icelandic government wants its data centres to run on geothermal power. Atlantis Power, a small Scottish company is building a data centre on Orkney to run on electricity generated from tide power.

The three main political parties have all promised to improve rural broadband services to the high speeds achieved in urban areas. A huge investment is required to upgrade the infrastructure which is operated by BT. Labour have proposed an additional tax on everybody’s fixed telephone lines, whereas the Conservatives propose to use a element of the BBC licence fee currently being used for the digital switch over to help fund the upgrade.

An ever increasing number of services are becoming primarily available through the internet which will handicap those with either no internet access, or woefully slow speeds. The ‘digital divide’ is growing as the internet service providers (ISPs) continually focus on urban areas which generate a higher profit margin. Perhaps ISPs should be required to invest a certain percentage of their urban profits into rural improvements.

The Prince of Wales has warned that “struggling livestock farmers and rural businesses are trapped in ‘broadband deserts’ unable to access vital services through the Internet”.

It’s admirable that the residents of Lyddington, Rutland have managed to self fund the installation of fibreoptic cable to the village. Rutland Telecom have laid the cable to the main ‘cabinet’ in Lyddington, and then used the existing lines to connect to each house. Sadly, the majority of villages throughout the country will not have these levels of resources.

Hopefully the next government will have a central strategy and take a stronger position with the telecommunications companies, ultimately forcing their hand on the necessary investment.

Daily Telegraph
BBC
CLA

Biofuels, bioethanol, biodiesel, biogas – the list of new fuel types seems to be growing by the week. Are they the future for energy and fuels?

British Airways
British Airways has announced a landmark deal to build the first plant in Europe producing jet fuel from waste material.

The plant, planned for East London, will use half million tonnes of waste each year producing around 16 million gallons of fuel. Starting production in 2014, BA says it will generate double the fuel needed for all flights from London City Airport.

BA argues the plant will cut the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, reducing the amount of methane that is produced. Methane is suggested to be a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Biofuel creation
Waste matter is fed into a high temperature ‘gasifier’ to produce BioSynGas. A chemical process called Fischer Tropsch is then used to convert the gas into biofuel.

Waste products from the process can power the plant and supply 20MW of electricity to the national grid. A solid waste product can be used as an aggregate in construction.

The fuel produced by the plant is certified for use in other countries, but not currently in the UK.

Biofuels
Biofuels are a sort of fuel made from living matter, or from the waste they produce. This is a long and diverse list, but includes:
• wood and straw
• biogas (methane) from animals’ excrement
• ethanol, diesel or other liquid fuels made from processing plant material or waste oil

In recent years, the term ‘biofuel’ has come to mean the last category - ethanol and diesel, made from crops including corn, sugarcane and rapeseed.

Bio-ethanol, an alcohol, is usually mixed with petrol, while biodiesel is either used on its own or in a mixture.

Could the future of crop production be heading indoors and upwards?

A novel concept currently being trialled at Paignton zoo in Devon grows plants in trays of water moving on a conveyor belt. The method claims to use less land and only 5% of the water usually needed.

The company behind the system, Valcent (www.valcent.net) say it is a sustainable solution to the world’s diminishing resources. The hydroponic system rotates the plants on a conveyor belt via a “feeding station” to create airflow and stimulate growth.

According to Chris Bradford, MD of Valcent, a 100sq metre machine, like the one installed at Paignton Zoo, can grow up to 11,200 plants, which, he says, is 20 times more than could be grown conventionally in a field covering the same area. The system is designed to be “eco-friendly” using solar power or wind energy, with the water used to grow the plants being recycled.

This could be a useful way of re-using redundant urban buildings or brown field sites, rather than further industrial expansion into the countryside or the green belt.