Home  5  Books  5  GBEzine  5  News  5  HelpDesk  5  Register  5  GreenBuilding.co.uk
Not signed in (Sign In)

Categories



Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.
Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


powered by Surfing Waves




Vanilla 1.0.3 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome to new Forum Visitors
 Join the forum now and benefit from discussions with thousands of other green building fans and discounts on Green Building Press publications: Apply now.

The AECB accepts no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this site. Views given in posts are not necessarily the views of the AECB.



General: Energy from Compost heaps

Bottom of Page

1 to 6 of 6

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorPaul_B
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     
    With the amount of waste we generate how much energy in the form of heat and methane could compst heaps produce? When I started hot-composting a few years ago I was amazed to see how easy it was to keep the temperature between 40 degrees and 60 degrees (although at the moment it is 20 degrees becuase it is a bit soggy). I believe commerical units get between 70 and 75 degrees. Can any of this energy be tapped without effecting the compost process too much? What about gases produced in the process can they be collected and used?

    Can we compost more, obvioulsy eductaing the populous is an up-hill battle (judging by the two weekly collection of rubbish) but what about all the manure from stables, cut-crass, hedgerow cuttings etc?
    • CommentAuthorJamesA
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007 edited
     
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2006/05/19/ludlow_biodigester_feature.shtml

    the biodigester in Ludlow -I believe they siphon off the gas along the lines of what you are thinking?
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     
    They used to put compost in greenhouses to keep them a bit warm and to keep the frost off and the C02 helped the plants grow better as well.
    • CommentAuthorTuna
    • CommentTimeDec 5th 2007
     
    I can't find the link now, but there was a web page where someone did exactly this - running a heat exchanger through a compost heat to draw heat into the house over winter. The trouble is, you need quite a big compost heap for it to keep running whilst you draw off excess. IIRC, the heap they used was something like half the size of the house they were heating. Pretty big then.
  5.  
    Composting is an aerobic process, produces heat (with luck/proper management), but no methane
    Anaerobic digestion produces methane but no heat, and is probably a more practical proposition. Methane can also be stored.
    • CommentAuthorskywalker
    • CommentTimeDec 6th 2007
     
    Listen to the Archers tonight.

    Personally I'd rather cut my own head off with a blunt saw (than listen to the Archers) but I was on a subterranean insulating mission at the time & couldnt reach my saw.

1 to 6 of 6

  1.  
Add your comments

    Username Password
  • Format comments as
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
   
The Ecobuilding Buzz
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
Logout    

© Green Building Press