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Aspects of biomass energy
Book reviews~Letter to the editor
Unlike fuelwood in southern Africa, biogas in western Europe is hardly a life-or-death topic. Yet it is still a n important issue, not least for its potential environmental benefits in treating industrial wastewaters, sewage sludge, animal manure, urban refuse, crop residues and so on. However, almost all previous books on the subject have dealt principally with the microbiology and biochemistry involved in the methanogenic process and/or the different types and designs of anaerobic digesters. This volume, commissioned by the Directorate-General for Energy ( D G X V l l ) of the EEC, on the practical end-use applications of biogas, is therefore long overdue and a very welcome addition to the biogas literature. The authors include Naveau and Nyns of the Bioengineering Unit of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, who have a long track record of innovative work in the area of anaerobic digestion, and indeed fermentation in general. What they have achieved in this book is essentially a compilation of basic production data ( f e e d s t o c k , d i g e s t e r design and volume, biogas output and composition) plus end-use applications of some 83 biogas production systems functioning in 1986 within nine EEC countries, Finland (two case studies) and Switzerland (one case study). Of these 50% were on-farm digesters, a quarter at landfill sites, 15% within industry (such as distilleries, tanneries, cheese factories and food processing plants) and the remainder at wastewater treatment or municipal solid waste disposal plants.
Such a wide-ranging survey inevitably produced many data lacunae, often concerning the focal points of the study: namely, the storage and purification of biogas and its end-use (and especially use in engines). Therefore 43 of the original 83 systems were subsequently selected on two main criteria; data availability and particular interest in biogas end-use. The breakdown here was 25 systems located on farms, eight landfills, six in industry, three wastewater treatment plants and one disposing of municipal solid waste, and the data collected were thorough, detailed and almost certainly unique. Particular attention was paid to whether or not and how the gas was stored and purified and the type of engine within which it was utilized, whether electric power was generated, the kind of heating operation it was put to and, where possible, the economics and energy balance of the overall system. In many cases the quantitative and descriptive information was reinforced by helpful diagrams. Meaningful performance comparisons between the various systems are hard to draw because of differing locations, feedstocks, priorities, scale and so forth, but whereas farm digesters are decreasing in numbers, those with a waste disposal function are increasing, both in the UK and in the EEC as a whole. There is a wealth of new practical information here for the biogas enthusiast brought together in a concise fashion, together with useful accounts of the properties of biogas and the previously neglected areas of technical devices available for its stor-
Letter to the editor Subjective review I was surprised to read the diatribe - it could surely not be called a review d i r e c t e d by A n d r e w M a c K i l l o p against Jacques Percebois and his distinguished publication 'Economie de l Energte. He seems to have misunderstood totally the purpose of this work, and has decided instead to use it
214
as an 'Aunt Sally' against which to launch his own theories about the future of oil prices - which, like the myriad of conflicting opinions, we must leave to posterity to judge. One wonders whether he has seriously studied this book. Percebois has set out to fill a major
age, purification and end-uses (for lighting, heating and cooking, mechanical power generation via internal combustion and Stirling engines plus the necessary engine modification requirements, electrical power generation and cogeneration of power plus 'recovered' heat). Problems encountered by the authors in their study include metal corrosion of equipment; leakage from storage containers; the cold starting, loss of power with decreasing speed, and overall reliability of biogaspowered engines; and, on a nontechnical point, the reluctance of electricity and gas utilities and industrialists to invest in landfill gas abstraction. The above issues are included in the authors' recommendations for further research and development, along with the design of better purification methods for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal and upgrading of landfill gas to natural gas quality. The usual call for more sharing of information is also made, particularly that of economic data, so that a realistic potential output can be carried out for biogas in Europe. In conclusion, this is a very informative 'state-of-the-art' text, well referenced and indexed, which largely manages to achieve its objectives. Its only clearly discernible fault is a shortcoming, though not too serious, in the final presentation into English.
Chris Lewis University of Strathclyde Glasgow, UK
gap in French energy economic literature. He has produced a comprehensive guide to the theory of energy economics - a vade m e c u m for students, postgraduates and policymakers. It was never intended as a prediction of the future, but designed to present a methodology - hence the econometric approach which MacKillop finds so objectionable, but which is surely indispensible to a professional and disciplined approach to energy problems. This analytical guide was welcomed at a recent World Bank
ENERGY POLICY March 1990
Letter to the editor~Publications received
seminar in Francophone West Africa for senior energy planners as a valuable tool for policy planning. In essence, this volume presents a number of theses concerning energy developments in the past, and outlines possible explanations - but does not enter the realm of prediction. There are many inconsistencies in MacKiilop's contribution. For reasons of space, I will cite only two. First, it is contended that Percebois asserts that a reduction in the energy intensity of G D P is a direct reflection of an intensified use of electricity. But this theory was advanced as only one of a number of possible explanations and amongst eminent authorities for this hypothesis quoted were Schurr of E P R I and J.-M. Martin of IEPE. Second, MacKillop puts words into Percebois' mouth by alleging that he
contends that O P E C fears that higher oil prices could drive down the dollar. A careful perusal of the book shows that this is simply not true. Percebois has merely observed that increases in oil prices have taken place historically at the same time as a fall in the dollar, but has never suggested any causal relationship. The recent fall in the dollar is attributed to other reasons which are analysed elsewhere in the book - in particular, the US strategy of recovery of market share to arrest the trade balance deficit. So, without making any pretension to assessing the theoretical debates which are the raison d'etre of this presentation and neglecting any discussion of an economic approach to i d e n t i f y i n g structural t e n d e n c i e s , MacKillop has left us without an objective assessment of an important
Publications received 1990-1991 Environmental Telephone Directory prepared and edited by the editorial staff of Government Institutes, Inc, (Government Institutes, Inc, 966 Hungerford Drive, #24, Rockville, MD 20850, USA) Atmospheric Emissions from the Use of Transport in the United Kingdom - Volume One: The Estimation of Current and Future Emissions by Malcolm Fergusson, Claire Holman and Mark Barrett (Earth Resources Research Ltd, 258 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JY, November 1989) C1BSE Applications Manual: Condensing Boilers (CIBSE Bookshop, Delta House, 222 Balham High Road, London SW12 9BS, UK, 66 pp, £26) Energy Efficiency Strategies for ThailandThe Needs and the Benefits - Report of a Conference hem on March 4-6 1988, Pattaya, Thailand ed by Deborah Lynn Bleviss and Vanessa Lide (University Press of America/International Institute for Energy Conservation, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706, USA, 1989, 455 pp) Energy Storage Systems - Past, Present and Future Applications by David Olivier and Stephen Andrews (Maclean Hunter Business Studies, Maclean Hunter Ltd, Maclean Hunter House, Chalk Lane, Cockfosters Road, Barnet, Hants EN4 OBU, UK, October 1989)
ENERGY POLICY March 1990
Getting out of the Greenhouse - An Agenda for UK action on Energy Policy by Dr Tim Jackson and Simon Roberts (Friends of the Earth, 26--28 Underwood Street, London, N1 7JQ, UK, 1989, £2.50) Major Actors in the West European Gas Market by Marian Radetzki (Skoldungagatan 2, S-11427 Stockholm, October 1989, 16 pp)
academic work. I hope that this can be remedied in the future. In my view, Percebois' rigorous analytical contribution will be as relevant to the coming decade as it was to the last. I hope that MacKillop's short-term forecasts do so too - and that he will approach any future reviews with greater objectivity.
Jane Carter VP, International Association for Energy Economics VP, British Institute of Energy Economics
1j. Percebois, Economie de I'Energie, reviewed by Andrew MacKillop, Energy Policy, Vol 17, No 5, October 1989, pp 532533.
This report concludes that early environmental assessment of development assistance projects and programmes can play a key role in improving international cooperation for sustainable development. Survey of Energy Resources 1989 (Longman Group, Westgate House, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1YQ, UK, 1989, £40.00) The Environmental Policy of the European Communities by Stanley P. Johnson and Guy Corcelle (Graham and Trotman Ltd, Sterling House, 66 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1DE, UK, 1989, 349 pp)
Market Impacts of Sulphur Control: The Consequences for Coal by J.L. Vernon (IEA Coal Research, Gemini House, 1018 Putney Hill, London SWl5 6AA, UK, 111 pp)
The Greenhouse Effect: Negotiating Targets by Michael Grubb (Energy and Environment Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 10 St James Square, London SWlY 4LE, UK, £10)
Societal Responses to Regional Climatic Change: Forecasting by Analogy ed by Michael H. Glantz (Westview Press/ Promotion Department, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA, December 1988, 428 pp, $40.00)
Who's Who in Worm Gas and Oil, ninth edition, Financial Times International Year Books (Longman Group, Westgate House, The High, Harlow, Essex CM20 1YR, UK, 336 pp, £85.00)
Strengthening Environmental Co-operation with Developing Countries (OECD, 2 rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris, Cedex 16, France, 1989, 148 pp, £11) Defining the major environmental concerns of developing countries and finding ways of strengthening North-South cooperation in this area were the main objectives of a recent OECD seminar involving developing countries, aid and environmental agencies, multilateral financing institutions and non-governmental organizations.
World Energy Directory, third edition (Longman Group, 6th Floor, Westgate House, The High, Harlow, Essex CM20 1NE, UK, 460 pp) World Environmental and Energy Issues: Their Impact on the Australian Economy ed by A.D. Owen, (Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington NSW 2033, Australia, A$50 (or £25) inclusive of postage)
215
Unlike fuelwood in southern Africa, biogas in western Europe is hardly a life-or-death topic. Yet it is still a n important issue, not least for its potential environmental benefits in treating industrial wastewaters, sewage sludge, animal manure, urban refuse, crop residues and so on. However, almost all previous books on the subject have dealt principally with the microbiology and biochemistry involved in the methanogenic process and/or the different types and designs of anaerobic digesters. This volume, commissioned by the Directorate-General for Energy ( D G X V l l ) of the EEC, on the practical end-use applications of biogas, is therefore long overdue and a very welcome addition to the biogas literature. The authors include Naveau and Nyns of the Bioengineering Unit of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, who have a long track record of innovative work in the area of anaerobic digestion, and indeed fermentation in general. What they have achieved in this book is essentially a compilation of basic production data ( f e e d s t o c k , d i g e s t e r design and volume, biogas output and composition) plus end-use applications of some 83 biogas production systems functioning in 1986 within nine EEC countries, Finland (two case studies) and Switzerland (one case study). Of these 50% were on-farm digesters, a quarter at landfill sites, 15% within industry (such as distilleries, tanneries, cheese factories and food processing plants) and the remainder at wastewater treatment or municipal solid waste disposal plants.
Such a wide-ranging survey inevitably produced many data lacunae, often concerning the focal points of the study: namely, the storage and purification of biogas and its end-use (and especially use in engines). Therefore 43 of the original 83 systems were subsequently selected on two main criteria; data availability and particular interest in biogas end-use. The breakdown here was 25 systems located on farms, eight landfills, six in industry, three wastewater treatment plants and one disposing of municipal solid waste, and the data collected were thorough, detailed and almost certainly unique. Particular attention was paid to whether or not and how the gas was stored and purified and the type of engine within which it was utilized, whether electric power was generated, the kind of heating operation it was put to and, where possible, the economics and energy balance of the overall system. In many cases the quantitative and descriptive information was reinforced by helpful diagrams. Meaningful performance comparisons between the various systems are hard to draw because of differing locations, feedstocks, priorities, scale and so forth, but whereas farm digesters are decreasing in numbers, those with a waste disposal function are increasing, both in the UK and in the EEC as a whole. There is a wealth of new practical information here for the biogas enthusiast brought together in a concise fashion, together with useful accounts of the properties of biogas and the previously neglected areas of technical devices available for its stor-
Letter to the editor Subjective review I was surprised to read the diatribe - it could surely not be called a review d i r e c t e d by A n d r e w M a c K i l l o p against Jacques Percebois and his distinguished publication 'Economie de l Energte. He seems to have misunderstood totally the purpose of this work, and has decided instead to use it
214
as an 'Aunt Sally' against which to launch his own theories about the future of oil prices - which, like the myriad of conflicting opinions, we must leave to posterity to judge. One wonders whether he has seriously studied this book. Percebois has set out to fill a major
age, purification and end-uses (for lighting, heating and cooking, mechanical power generation via internal combustion and Stirling engines plus the necessary engine modification requirements, electrical power generation and cogeneration of power plus 'recovered' heat). Problems encountered by the authors in their study include metal corrosion of equipment; leakage from storage containers; the cold starting, loss of power with decreasing speed, and overall reliability of biogaspowered engines; and, on a nontechnical point, the reluctance of electricity and gas utilities and industrialists to invest in landfill gas abstraction. The above issues are included in the authors' recommendations for further research and development, along with the design of better purification methods for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal and upgrading of landfill gas to natural gas quality. The usual call for more sharing of information is also made, particularly that of economic data, so that a realistic potential output can be carried out for biogas in Europe. In conclusion, this is a very informative 'state-of-the-art' text, well referenced and indexed, which largely manages to achieve its objectives. Its only clearly discernible fault is a shortcoming, though not too serious, in the final presentation into English.
Chris Lewis University of Strathclyde Glasgow, UK
gap in French energy economic literature. He has produced a comprehensive guide to the theory of energy economics - a vade m e c u m for students, postgraduates and policymakers. It was never intended as a prediction of the future, but designed to present a methodology - hence the econometric approach which MacKillop finds so objectionable, but which is surely indispensible to a professional and disciplined approach to energy problems. This analytical guide was welcomed at a recent World Bank
ENERGY POLICY March 1990
Letter to the editor~Publications received
seminar in Francophone West Africa for senior energy planners as a valuable tool for policy planning. In essence, this volume presents a number of theses concerning energy developments in the past, and outlines possible explanations - but does not enter the realm of prediction. There are many inconsistencies in MacKiilop's contribution. For reasons of space, I will cite only two. First, it is contended that Percebois asserts that a reduction in the energy intensity of G D P is a direct reflection of an intensified use of electricity. But this theory was advanced as only one of a number of possible explanations and amongst eminent authorities for this hypothesis quoted were Schurr of E P R I and J.-M. Martin of IEPE. Second, MacKillop puts words into Percebois' mouth by alleging that he
contends that O P E C fears that higher oil prices could drive down the dollar. A careful perusal of the book shows that this is simply not true. Percebois has merely observed that increases in oil prices have taken place historically at the same time as a fall in the dollar, but has never suggested any causal relationship. The recent fall in the dollar is attributed to other reasons which are analysed elsewhere in the book - in particular, the US strategy of recovery of market share to arrest the trade balance deficit. So, without making any pretension to assessing the theoretical debates which are the raison d'etre of this presentation and neglecting any discussion of an economic approach to i d e n t i f y i n g structural t e n d e n c i e s , MacKillop has left us without an objective assessment of an important
Publications received 1990-1991 Environmental Telephone Directory prepared and edited by the editorial staff of Government Institutes, Inc, (Government Institutes, Inc, 966 Hungerford Drive, #24, Rockville, MD 20850, USA) Atmospheric Emissions from the Use of Transport in the United Kingdom - Volume One: The Estimation of Current and Future Emissions by Malcolm Fergusson, Claire Holman and Mark Barrett (Earth Resources Research Ltd, 258 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JY, November 1989) C1BSE Applications Manual: Condensing Boilers (CIBSE Bookshop, Delta House, 222 Balham High Road, London SW12 9BS, UK, 66 pp, £26) Energy Efficiency Strategies for ThailandThe Needs and the Benefits - Report of a Conference hem on March 4-6 1988, Pattaya, Thailand ed by Deborah Lynn Bleviss and Vanessa Lide (University Press of America/International Institute for Energy Conservation, 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706, USA, 1989, 455 pp) Energy Storage Systems - Past, Present and Future Applications by David Olivier and Stephen Andrews (Maclean Hunter Business Studies, Maclean Hunter Ltd, Maclean Hunter House, Chalk Lane, Cockfosters Road, Barnet, Hants EN4 OBU, UK, October 1989)
ENERGY POLICY March 1990
Getting out of the Greenhouse - An Agenda for UK action on Energy Policy by Dr Tim Jackson and Simon Roberts (Friends of the Earth, 26--28 Underwood Street, London, N1 7JQ, UK, 1989, £2.50) Major Actors in the West European Gas Market by Marian Radetzki (Skoldungagatan 2, S-11427 Stockholm, October 1989, 16 pp)
academic work. I hope that this can be remedied in the future. In my view, Percebois' rigorous analytical contribution will be as relevant to the coming decade as it was to the last. I hope that MacKillop's short-term forecasts do so too - and that he will approach any future reviews with greater objectivity.
Jane Carter VP, International Association for Energy Economics VP, British Institute of Energy Economics
1j. Percebois, Economie de I'Energie, reviewed by Andrew MacKillop, Energy Policy, Vol 17, No 5, October 1989, pp 532533.
This report concludes that early environmental assessment of development assistance projects and programmes can play a key role in improving international cooperation for sustainable development. Survey of Energy Resources 1989 (Longman Group, Westgate House, Harlow, Essex, CM20 1YQ, UK, 1989, £40.00) The Environmental Policy of the European Communities by Stanley P. Johnson and Guy Corcelle (Graham and Trotman Ltd, Sterling House, 66 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1DE, UK, 1989, 349 pp)
Market Impacts of Sulphur Control: The Consequences for Coal by J.L. Vernon (IEA Coal Research, Gemini House, 1018 Putney Hill, London SWl5 6AA, UK, 111 pp)
The Greenhouse Effect: Negotiating Targets by Michael Grubb (Energy and Environment Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 10 St James Square, London SWlY 4LE, UK, £10)
Societal Responses to Regional Climatic Change: Forecasting by Analogy ed by Michael H. Glantz (Westview Press/ Promotion Department, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA, December 1988, 428 pp, $40.00)
Who's Who in Worm Gas and Oil, ninth edition, Financial Times International Year Books (Longman Group, Westgate House, The High, Harlow, Essex CM20 1YR, UK, 336 pp, £85.00)
Strengthening Environmental Co-operation with Developing Countries (OECD, 2 rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris, Cedex 16, France, 1989, 148 pp, £11) Defining the major environmental concerns of developing countries and finding ways of strengthening North-South cooperation in this area were the main objectives of a recent OECD seminar involving developing countries, aid and environmental agencies, multilateral financing institutions and non-governmental organizations.
World Energy Directory, third edition (Longman Group, 6th Floor, Westgate House, The High, Harlow, Essex CM20 1NE, UK, 460 pp) World Environmental and Energy Issues: Their Impact on the Australian Economy ed by A.D. Owen, (Centre for Applied Economic Research, University of New South Wales, PO Box 1, Kensington NSW 2033, Australia, A$50 (or £25) inclusive of postage)
215