Legazpi City is going to convert cattle manure from slaughterhouses into biogas energy, which aims to lessen the city’s carbon footprint while saving about Php1 million on diesel fuel costs.
The project would be the first in the country to produce energy out of cattle manure from class AA abattoir, according to Alex Templonuevo, regional technical director of the National Meat Inspection Service in the Bicol region.
Aside from producing green energy, the biogas facility will help minimize the smell from the slaughterhouse, and prevent possible water contamination.
Templonuevo said at least 400 cow heads can generate 500 kilos of manure, which will be sufficient to generate enough power to boil the water for cattle slaughtering.
Some 500 kilos of cows’ dung will be added with 500 liters of water and stored for 15 days in a tank. The tank has a mixer that will stir the content to achieve homogenization. The mixed liquid will go through a macerator to turn it into smaller particles. The end product, called slurry, will be fed into anaerobic digesters for the production of biogas.
The anaerobic digester, Templonuevo explained, will convert the waste to energy in the form of biogas which contains methane.
The biogas facility is seen to produce around 50,000 megawatt-hours of clean renewable energy.
Templonuevo noted that the city government is currently just using cattle dung, but pig and cattle waste might also be converted to produce additional power in the future.
Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal said the plant, when completed, would provide the slaughterhouse a free and steady supply of fuel. He added that the project can produce high-grade organic fertilizers farmers can use for their daily agricultural needs.
Engr. Jacinto Alex Elegado, provincial director of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Albay, said the first biogas energy plant project was funded by the department in partnership with the Legazpi City government as a pilot area in the countryside.
The DOST provided Php30,000 grants while civil work was done by the city’s engineering office.
Photo from Philippine News Agency website.