Please folks, check out this initiative on depression and suicide prevention, if anyone can contribute time, experience or help please get in touch.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
It's been a while
Well folks, haven't written a post in a while, reason? Been too busy. Not complaining, it's a great way to be. Our first project went to planning this week and we are naturally very excited. It will be interesting to see how it progresses but we are well prepared, this is something we've been aiming for for such a long time. I've spent the past two years trying to get Agrigrid off the ground and this is a tremendous milestone. Of course there is still a long way to go, we know that, but to get a plant up and running will have been a very high mountain to conquer.
Things are going well with regard to queries for other plants too, I've been clocking up quite a few miles since harvest now that farmers have a bit more time to talk. I would not be too surprised to get a flurry of planning applications going in to various local authorities in the new year.
A quick word of thanks to all those who have given us moral support to get this far, here on the blog, on twitter, Facebook and of course for me personally, from home, I would not have been able to keep it up without the fantastic encouragement from my wife and family, I really hope that I will be able to repay the faith and love that has been shown and that the wolves which have been at our door as they have been to many doors of many people in Ireland at the moment, can be given a good kick up the backside and banished forever.
One of the things I thought about the other day was keeping a photo journal of all the places I am visiting at the moment and posting them to this blog; I think it may make be interesting to document the growth and effort of building the company, let me know if you think its a good idea.
Anyway folks, I promise I'll post more often, thanks again for you support, see ya.
Things are going well with regard to queries for other plants too, I've been clocking up quite a few miles since harvest now that farmers have a bit more time to talk. I would not be too surprised to get a flurry of planning applications going in to various local authorities in the new year.
A quick word of thanks to all those who have given us moral support to get this far, here on the blog, on twitter, Facebook and of course for me personally, from home, I would not have been able to keep it up without the fantastic encouragement from my wife and family, I really hope that I will be able to repay the faith and love that has been shown and that the wolves which have been at our door as they have been to many doors of many people in Ireland at the moment, can be given a good kick up the backside and banished forever.
One of the things I thought about the other day was keeping a photo journal of all the places I am visiting at the moment and posting them to this blog; I think it may make be interesting to document the growth and effort of building the company, let me know if you think its a good idea.
Anyway folks, I promise I'll post more often, thanks again for you support, see ya.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Couple of Links
Link to Irish Government White Paper on Anaerobic Digestion http://t.co/sCIR27W
Some info on Agrigrid, a project analysis and what exactly is AD docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid
Some info on Agrigrid, a project analysis and what exactly is AD docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid
Monday, July 11, 2011
UK AD and Bio Gas Exhibition
Had a very informative trip to the NEC in Birmingham last Thursday to visit the UK Anaerobic Digestion and Bio Gas exhibition. Most of the major players in the industry Europe wide were represented and I have to say if we can embrace the technology here in Ireland, with the help and expertise that's out there, we can be assured of a very bright future.
I know I keep saying it, but the rest of Europe is so far ahead of us in this field. Its frustrating that an agricultural country like Ireland is not more advanced in our use of the technology. There is no re-inventing the wheel, its all there, in bucket loads. One of the things which most impressed me was the presence at the exhibition of UK local and central governmental agencies, providing help and back up to those in the industry. I spoke to some people on a few of the stands and they were just so accommodating. Even though we are operating in another jurisdiction, they took the time to explain UK renewable feed in tariff arrangements, the process of obtain planning and the process for getting a grid connection, very impressive people indeed. As I mentioned in a tweet last week, the Scottish government are also encouraging the use of fertilisers produced in the AD process, (cleaner, significantly less odorous and more environmentally beneficial), to be used by farmers. They estimate that in a short space of time, the use of this fertiliser could replace up to 25% of conventional chemically manufactured fertilisers.
The feed in tariff arrangements throughout the UK are substantially better than in Eire and the difference a couple of hundred feet on either side of the border between Northern and Southern Ireland can be the difference in 2 to 3 years payback on capital costs, even though those capital cost are for the most part similar. Agencies such as the IrBEA, (Irish Bio Energy Association), have been lobbying for some time to try to get the Irish Government see sense. That renewables are the way forward but only if the playing field between taxpayer subsidised semi state energy companies and renewable energy producers is leveled.
Anyway folks, the struggle goes on, remember to tune in regularly for more updates.
I know I keep saying it, but the rest of Europe is so far ahead of us in this field. Its frustrating that an agricultural country like Ireland is not more advanced in our use of the technology. There is no re-inventing the wheel, its all there, in bucket loads. One of the things which most impressed me was the presence at the exhibition of UK local and central governmental agencies, providing help and back up to those in the industry. I spoke to some people on a few of the stands and they were just so accommodating. Even though we are operating in another jurisdiction, they took the time to explain UK renewable feed in tariff arrangements, the process of obtain planning and the process for getting a grid connection, very impressive people indeed. As I mentioned in a tweet last week, the Scottish government are also encouraging the use of fertilisers produced in the AD process, (cleaner, significantly less odorous and more environmentally beneficial), to be used by farmers. They estimate that in a short space of time, the use of this fertiliser could replace up to 25% of conventional chemically manufactured fertilisers.
The feed in tariff arrangements throughout the UK are substantially better than in Eire and the difference a couple of hundred feet on either side of the border between Northern and Southern Ireland can be the difference in 2 to 3 years payback on capital costs, even though those capital cost are for the most part similar. Agencies such as the IrBEA, (Irish Bio Energy Association), have been lobbying for some time to try to get the Irish Government see sense. That renewables are the way forward but only if the playing field between taxpayer subsidised semi state energy companies and renewable energy producers is leveled.
Anyway folks, the struggle goes on, remember to tune in regularly for more updates.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Renewables German Style
Some photo's showing pics of sites taken on our recent trip to Germany. I've been to Germany a lot over the past number of years and every time I go, I'm always struck by how well they have integrated renewable energy into their everyday lives. We normally think of Germany as a country dedicated to heavy engineering, finance and manufacturing, however, at both a local and central government level, they have a great appreciation of the rural and agricultural sectors which make up such an important part of their economy and indeed their country. I've said it before I know, but they are simply light years ahead of us in terms of attitude to renewables. Their encouragement both legislatively and financially for Wind, Solar and Anaerobic Digestion technologies is fantastic. Should our government wish to have Ireland adopt such an approach, there is no need for reports taking years to complete and thousands of pages to cover, they need only take a fairly cheap 1.5 hour plane trip to Germany, hire a car and drive around. They can then take the German renewable policy directives, translate them, stick a Harp on the front page and hey presto, job done. No re-inventing of the wheel required, just adoption of a tried and tested system that works.
Lecture over, here's some photos.
Lecture over, here's some photos.
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| Making Slurry Delivery |
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| Making Silage Delivery |
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| A look inside a tank under construction, the prop is the agitator |
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| View from above at the mixing screw of the "Moving Floor" dry feed stock system |
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| That's me looking into a |
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| This pump by Vogelsang, includes a rotor cutter. This circular spinning blade cuts up fibrous material in the substrates. the benefit? Stops your pump getting blocked and provides more solid surface area for bacteria to feed upon, more bacteria, more gas, everyone is happy. |
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| The generator, this one is rated at 1MW |
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| Removing the generator from position to carry out routine maintenance |
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| "Tanks for the memories" |
Monday, June 13, 2011
Miles to go....
Well we finally now have our website up and running, check it out by all means, http://www.agrigrid.ie. We've had a lot of interest in our little company and as the days pass, it is becoming more and more apparent that people in general are very positive towards our endevour. We are talking in a number of parties at the moment who are very interested in developing sites and the view of local authorities is looking quite favourable with regard planning permissions. This is fantastic because of the obvious benefits, not least of all much needed employment.
I suppose the simple fact of the matter is that we as a small country need to start approaching things differently. We've had a go at the whole property thing and well, that hasn't exactly gone to plan. We continue to have a fairly strong high tech sector and exports are rising month on month. What we need to do now is to look at different ways to invest, we need to look at taking a more long term view, we need to be more responsible in the way we invest and in what we invest. What we need to be aiming for is 30, 40 and 50 years down the line. We we need to keep our eye on is securing our future through investment in our infrastructure, our energy security and our eductaional needs. The key to getting back on our feet is to make sure that when our economy bounces back, (and it will), that we have the necessary tools to cope and advance at a rate faster than our competitors. That our road, rail, airports and seaports can cope with the demands that will undoubtably be required of them. We need to ensure that our electricity, gas and telecoms grids are maintained and improved. We need to ensure that we do not fall prey to increasing world fuel prices by investing in re-newables. We need to ensure that our standards of eductaion are such that our children can expect to grow up, live, work and earn a living in the country of their birth. That they can become our literal future and not just figurative, that they can be world beaters in terms of innovation and research and development.
To get there we need to regain something, we need to regain our confidence. Not the struting, swaggering confidence of the Celtic Tiger years, but a new quiet and calm confidence, a reasoned confidence. President Obama and U2 reminded us that that it was Irish hands who helped build America, I'll go further and say it was Irish hands who helped build the world. We have done it before under more adverse conditions, we can do it again and we will.
To conclude, Robert Frost told us that there was "miles to go before I sleep", that is true for our country, but lets start the journey, it will be tough at times, but it will be worth it.
I suppose the simple fact of the matter is that we as a small country need to start approaching things differently. We've had a go at the whole property thing and well, that hasn't exactly gone to plan. We continue to have a fairly strong high tech sector and exports are rising month on month. What we need to do now is to look at different ways to invest, we need to look at taking a more long term view, we need to be more responsible in the way we invest and in what we invest. What we need to be aiming for is 30, 40 and 50 years down the line. We we need to keep our eye on is securing our future through investment in our infrastructure, our energy security and our eductaional needs. The key to getting back on our feet is to make sure that when our economy bounces back, (and it will), that we have the necessary tools to cope and advance at a rate faster than our competitors. That our road, rail, airports and seaports can cope with the demands that will undoubtably be required of them. We need to ensure that our electricity, gas and telecoms grids are maintained and improved. We need to ensure that we do not fall prey to increasing world fuel prices by investing in re-newables. We need to ensure that our standards of eductaion are such that our children can expect to grow up, live, work and earn a living in the country of their birth. That they can become our literal future and not just figurative, that they can be world beaters in terms of innovation and research and development.
To get there we need to regain something, we need to regain our confidence. Not the struting, swaggering confidence of the Celtic Tiger years, but a new quiet and calm confidence, a reasoned confidence. President Obama and U2 reminded us that that it was Irish hands who helped build America, I'll go further and say it was Irish hands who helped build the world. We have done it before under more adverse conditions, we can do it again and we will.
To conclude, Robert Frost told us that there was "miles to go before I sleep", that is true for our country, but lets start the journey, it will be tough at times, but it will be worth it.
Friday, May 20, 2011
In case you were wondering....
....what Agrigrid can do.
- Planning
Agrigrid can provide feasibility studies on AD plants, including financial planning. Our specialist design teams can provide a one stop shop for preparation of planning permission applications, licensing, building and technical system design.
- Project Management
By utilizing our many years of experience, Agrigrid can manage the construction of your plant. Liaising with local and statutory bodies, supervising installation and ensuring the very highest quality standards are met in all materials and equipment used. Agrigrid can also ensure that financial models are strictly adhered to during construction and commissioning.
- Operation
Agrigrid can provide management for your plant, carrying out day to day administrative tasks and ensuring feed-stocks remain at most advantageous levels, scheduling deliveries, making sure they are made on time and checking same. We can provide continuous liaison with suppliers, maintenance staff and the National Electrical Grid, ensuring optimal output from your plant.
- Monitoring
Through our central monitoring facility, Agrigrid can ensure that every component of your plant is operating to its highest level of efficiency, that all equipment is performing and that maximum output is maintained, thus ensuring your return on investment.
- Maintenance
Agrigrid can ensure that regular and preventative maintenance is carried out quickly and efficiently on your plant. Our monitoring service as detailed above, will feed directly into our maintenance database and can spot in advance any problems which may be imminent. This approach can greatly reduce downtime and subsequently keep your plant at optimum output and profitability.
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