Susanna Freymark
Waste from Casino meatworks will not be wasted — instead it will be used to create energy that will be used at the factory. The first step towards that happening was marked by a turning of the sod at the biohub site in Casino.
On Friday, April 24, there was a gathering of staff, politicians and LMS Energy representatives to mark stage 1 of the biohub project at the Casino Food Company’s farm San Marla, off Reynolds Road.
The project will use anaerobic digestion to treat abattoir effluent, capturing methane-rich biogas that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, and safely destroying it via flaring to reduce emissions.
Engineer Jarrod Irving explained what this meant.
The liquid waste effluent from the meatworks is piped into a huge lagoon at San Marla.
That lagoon is then covered so the microbes will break down under cover, Mr Irving said.
The microbes need an oxygen depleted environment to thrive and for the anaerobic process to work.
The meatworks waste sits in the lagoon for 30 days. The result, after a month, is liquid nutrients that can be used to fertilise the land, Mr Irving said.
The gas produced in the process is piped back to the Casino Food Company where it can be used to heat a boiler or for other processes.
The next stage of the biohub project is an anaerobic digester which is where a heated tank creates energy from solid waste.
The project will drastically reduce emissions from Casino Food Company.
Casino Food Company chief executive Simon Stahl said they were taking themselves off the grid.
“This protects Casino from power interruptions,” Mr Stahl said.
Stage 2 of the project will take the company 60% off the grid. Once the biohub is built, “the anaerobic digestion will take the final 40%,” Mr Stahl said.
“We have to protect our energy in a world uncertain about energy.
“Waste is a source of energy.”
This biohub waste project is a major step forward for sustainable food production.
LMS Energy co-chief executive Matthew Falzon said “methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas – up to 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over the short term – making its reduction the fastest way to slow global warming.”
“Abattoir effluent is a substantial contributor to CFC’s carbon footprint, and this project is expected to reduce emissions by up to 35%,” Mr Falzon said.
Casino Food Company chairman Lennard Blok said the biohub will reduce the company’s environmental footprint and improve wastewater management.
“The project is expected to deliver a reduction of around 35,000 tonnes of carbon equivalent emissions each year, which is the same as removing around 11,200 cars from the road, or planting more than 476,000 trees,” Mr Blok said.
“By capturing and destroying the biogas, we can avoid more than 98% of Scope 1 emissions associated with effluent treatment at the facility.”
The infrastructure at San Marla includes a 50million litre covered anaerobic lagoon and an industry-leading biogas flare, designed to destroy captured greenhouse gases while creating a controlled treatment environment.
The second stage of the project is planned to convert the captured biogas into electricity to power onsite infrastructure, further advancing the site’s sustainability outcomes.
Construction starts this week with the biohub expected to be operational by the first quarter of next year.