Turn your farm waste into a fuel
Taipa Workshop

2pm - Friday 15 April
49 Taipa Heights Drive

For several months a local project has been busy fermenting and distilling farm waste produce. Although the liquor being produced is not for drinking, there should be something to celebrate at the end of it. The Far North Environment Centre and Far North Envirolab have teamed up to show how a low cost distil system can add value to on-farm waste products by converting them into beneficial by-products including renewable ethanol fuel, animal food stock and fertiliser.

The project has been partly supported through the Sustainable Farming Fund which is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and it is hoped that the uptake of similar initiatives could provide many economic and environmental benefits.

As part of the project, Andreas Kurmann from the Far North Envirolab wants to demonstrate how ethanol can be produced cleanly and cheaply, using a wide variety of plants and waste products, from kiwifruit to raupo. He believes that by increasing the availability of ethanol based fuels we could avoid the increasing prices at the petrol pump, become more energy independent, as well as slow and potentially reverse global warming. As a fuel ethanol is a much cleaner fuel than petrol, and you can use it in your car, right now. In addition, ethanol fuel production can be environmentally sustainable, revitalises farms and communities, and creates huge new opportunities for small-scale businesses.

What the project is trying to show is that the by-products of small-scale ethanol plants can be used in profitable, energy-efficient, and environmentally positive ways. For instance, spent mash (the liquid left over after distillation) contains all the nutrients the next fuel crop needs and can return it back to the soil if the fields are close to the operation.

A demonstration workshop for anyone interested to learn more about the project has been planned for 2pm on Friday 15th April at the Far North Envirolab site: 49 Taipa Heights Drive, Taipa. For more information contact Richard at the Far North Environment Centre on 09 408 1086, click here to email him.