Global biogas upgrading equipment specialist DMT Environmental Technology has reached the landmark production of an incredible 250 million cubic metres of biomethane – enough green gas to heat 227,000 homes and power thousands of vehicles worldwide. On the back of this announcement, the firm has also revealed the introduction of its first UK-based sales and service team, who will roll-out DMT’s highly successful collaborative based project service to UK customers and help new developers easily access DMT’s superior yield-generating membrane upgrading technology.
RHI kickstarts UK market
This news come hot on the heels of significant favourable policy developments in the UK’s anaerobic digestion and biogas industry. Thanks to the recent reforms to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), the next six months are set to be an exciting period for the biomethane sector, with millions of pounds of investment set to be poured into new renewable heat projects. In fact, there were 58 Tariff Guarantee applications to the reformed RHI scheme in just its first two weeks.
Commenting on the commitment DMT is showing to the UK AD industry, Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of ADBA, the trade body for the UK anaerobic digestion sector, said: “The new Renewable Heat Incentive tariffs are set to kickstart the second wave of biomethane plants in the UK. Having grown from 0 to 90 plants in the last five years, we expect this figure to grow further over the next few years, and it’s great to see DMT placing themselves at the heart of the UK’s biomethane sector.”
Make it membrane
In recent years, membrane technology has become the preferred upgrading solution for the majority of UK biomethane plants, largely due to its small footprint, low methane slip, minimal maintenance requirements and superior gas production. One of the most efficient membrane solutions on the market is DMT’s Carborex® MS. A total of 30 international plant operators, including the UK’s first commercial biomethane to grid facility which opened in 2012 at Poundbury, have benefited from this system; housed in a compact, modular, containerised unit, it boasts an uptime of 98 per cent and upgrades biogas to a methane concentration of 99 per cent, resulting in a higher yield. Available in patented, modular units ranging from 40 Nm3 biogas/hr to 15,000 Nm3 biogas/hr (and higher), the Carborex MS is a simple, easy to operate, plug and play system. It has a low energy consumption (0.22 kWh/Nm3 biogas) and requires no additional heat – in fact, it offers heat recovery of >0.25 kWt/Nm3 biogas, which covers the main energy consumption of an AD plant.
Carbon-cutting solution
UK Business Director Stephen McCulloch heads up DMT’s new UK team, and is keen to outline the company’s environmental credentials, too: “Converting organic matter into renewable gas brings considerable carbon savings – focusing on efficiency and effectiveness, DMT’s worldwide projects have achieved savings in excess of 642,382 tonnes CO2 equivalent, equal to 0.14 per cent of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This is the same as taking 20 per cent of all buses in the UK off the road, or all fishing vessels in the UK off the seas and oceans.”
Five-year guarantee
Stephen has strong plans for the UK team, adding: “As well as expanding the UK market, we will be increasing the scope of our supply, including offering finance options. In addition, we have fine-tuned our offering and are issuing a five-year membrane guarantee on our Carborex® MS upgrading technology. With this improved strategy, we look forward to helping to take the already thriving UK biomethane sector to the next level – and to producing our next 250 million cubic metres of green gas.”
