Charles Q. Choi has an article for MSNBC online about the process of making fuel from winery waste. Apparently the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, California has a method of taking winery wastewater and turning it into fuel in the form of hydrogen gas.The generator the winery uses is roughly the size of a refrigerator and is an “example of a new renewable method for generating hydrogen fuel from wastewater [.]” According to the Choi article, this is how the process works: 1) waste is put into the generator, 2) the waste is fed to microbes inside the generator, and 3) “[w]ith the aid of a little electricity, these naturally occurring bacteria break the organic material in the wastewater into hydrogen gas.”
The wastewater from Napa Wine Company comes from used grapes, the wine making process, cleaning equipment and “other processes.” The excess water from the generator is mixed with other excess wastewater that has been treated, and then both are used in irrigation. So the process of generating the fuel still leaves enough bi-product to keep the sustainable irrigation system on the farm operable. “The experimental generator will continuously process about 1,000 liters of wastewater a day.”
According to Bruce Logan, an environmental engineer at Penn State University doing research on the project at the winery, ‘“This is the first time that a reactor of this size has been attempted either in the laboratory or the field [.]”
The generator first started up in September. The goal is to make enough energy than is used to treat the wastewater, so the generator would be a “net power producer” for the winery. Additionally, there is hope that the fuel could be used to power vehicles and machinery at the winery, which would give the winery a sustainable water source and energy source while also benefitting from agritourism at wineries in California. If the project is successful there is always the chance it could serve as a model for other wineries and distilleries around the nation.
To read Choi’s article for MSNBC online click here.
Posted: 11/04/09
