Grandma's Sweet Molassas | Green Energy News

July 11 2004 – Vol.9 No.16

GRANDMA’S SWEET MOLASSES.

Ordinarily, molasses, waste from the sugar industry, is sold to processors for yeast or alcohol production, for animal feed or for cooking.

Now there’s another use; a binder for fuel pellets to be produced at a waste-to-energy facility now under construction in Germany.

To go into operation in mid-2005 the mechanical-physical-stabilization facility (MPS), being built by waste disposal company Alba AG, will be able to process 160,000 tons of domestic and commercial waste each year. The MPS process first removes water from garbage to reduce mass and volume while making the waste mixture easier to handle. Recyclable materials such as glass, metal and plastics are removed and the remainder is shredded and pelletized. Molasses is used as binder to keep, or glue, the pellets together. (Probably makes them smell pretty good too.)

The pellets can then be used as a substitute for fossil fuels, particularly coal. (It seems likely, too, that they could be used in popular pellet stoves for domestic heat.)

The process turns 93 percent of the waste into pellets and, of course, pellets would be considered a renewable fuel. The plant is being built in response to a European Union ban on sending waste to landfill dumps. That ruling is set to go into force by May 2005.

Siemens is providing all of the electric and automation technology for the Alba facility. Visit Alba http://www.alba-online.de/ (German only)