Glanford Power Station | |
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Country | England |
Location | Lincolnshire, East Midlands |
Coordinates | 53°37′19″N0°42′01″W / 53.62199°N 0.700364°W Coordinates: 53°37′19″N0°42′01″W / 53.62199°N 0.700364°W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | 1993 |
Operator(s) | Fibrogen |
Thermal power station | |
Primary fuel | Biofuel |
Power generation | |
Nameplate capacity |
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External links | |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
grid reference SE859147 |
Glanford Power Station is an electricity generating plant located on the Flixborough industrial estate near Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire. It generates around 13.5 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which is enough to provide power to about 32,000 homes. It was designed to generate electricity by the burning of poultry litter, and was only the second of this kind of power station in the world to have been built when it went into operation in 1993. The station is owned by Energy Power Resources (EPR) and operated by its subsidiary Fibrogen.
After the BSE crisis in the 1980s, millions of cattle were slaughtered, and almost half a million tons of dried meat and bone meal (MBM), the cause of the disease, was stockpiled in secure sheds. Glanford Power Station was re-commissioned in May 2000 to burn them. It charges a gate fee for the fuel it burns, which would have otherwise been disposed of using conventional landfills. [1] MBM has around two thirds the energy value of fossil fuels such as coal, and has been labelled carbon neutral. Despite producing "green energy", Glanford Power Station is listed as the 27th largest arsenic air emitter in England and Wales in an air quality report published in February 2000. [2]
In January 2004 Glanford Power Plant received planning permission for the site to be extended to allow other sources of biomass to be burned. The plant technology is based on a conventional moving grate boiler and steam cycle.
In accordance with the United Kingdom Government's new Renewables Obligation incentive mechanism, a premium is paid for renewable electricity generation. Each renewable generator is issued with Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROC), which they may sell to other electricity supply companies. This trade allows them to meet their obligation for the proportion of supplied electricity generated from renewable sources. The power output from the Glanford plant qualifies for ROC trading.
The combustion ashes produced by the station are then disposed of via landfill (21% of fuel by mass). [3] Before the switch to MBM, they used to be sold as agricultural fertiliser. [4]
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.
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Electric power systems consist of generation plants of different energy sources, transmission networks, and distribution lines. Each of these components can have environmental impacts at multiple stages of their development and use including in their construction, during the generation of electricity, and in their decommissioning and disposal. These impacts can be split into operational impacts and construction impacts. The United States Environmental Protection Agency clearly states that all forms of electricity generation have some form of environmental impact. The European Environment Agency view is the same. This page looks exclusively at the operational environmental impact of electricity generation. The page is organized by energy source and includes impacts such as water usage, emissions, local pollution, and wildlife displacement.
Alternative fuel, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like; fossil fuels, as well as nuclear materials such as uranium and thorium, as well as artificial radioisotope fuels that are made in nuclear reactors.
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Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.
A mechanical biological treatment (MBT) system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion. MBT plants are designed to process mixed household waste as well as commercial and industrial wastes.
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In agriculture, poultry litter or broiler litter is a mixture of poultry excreta, spilled feed, feathers, and material used as bedding in poultry operations. This term is also used to refer to unused bedding materials. Poultry litter is used in confinement buildings used for raising broilers, turkeys and other birds. Common bedding materials include wood shavings, sawdust, peanut hulls, shredded sugar cane, straw, and other dry, absorbent, low-cost organic materials. Sand is also occasionally used as bedding. The bedding materials help absorb moisture, limiting the production of ammonia and harmful pathogens. The materials used for bedding can also have a significant impact on carcass quality and bird performance.
The Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO) refers to a collection of orders requiring the electricity distribution network operators in England and Wales to purchase electricity from the nuclear power and renewable energy sectors. Similar mechanisms operate in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is a topic that came to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide. Renewables generate almost all of Scotland's electricity, mostly from the country's wind power.
FortisBC is a Canadian owned, British Columbia based regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable energy, including natural gas, Renewable Natural Gas, electricity and propane. FortisBC has approximately 2,600 employees serving more than 1.2 million customers in 135 B.C. communities and 58 First Nations communities across 150 Traditional Territories.
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Glanford Brigg Power Station is a gas-fired power station in North Lincolnshire, England. It is capable of firing diesel as a substitute of natural gas. It is situated on the River Ancholme, beside the Sheffield to Cleethorpes via Brigg Line, outside the town of Brigg, with its name coming from the former name for the town. It has a generating capacity of 240 megawatts (MW).
Meat and bone meal (MBM) is a product of the rendering industry. It is typically about 48–52% protein, 33–35% ash, 8–12% fat, and 4–7% water. It is primarily used in the formulation of animal feed to improve the amino acid profile of the feed. Feeding of MBM to cattle is thought to have been responsible for the spread of BSE ; therefore, in most parts of the world, MBM is no longer allowed in feed for ruminant animals. However, it is still used to feed monogastric animals.
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