OSAKA GAS TO PAY TWICE AS MUCH FOR BIOGAS

[Fledermaus]

Biogas can be treated as a distributed resource like solar roofs.

Osaka Gas Co. (TSE:9532) said Wednesday that it will double its maximum price for biogas purchases starting next month in a bid to encourage production of the promising alternative energy resource.

Under legislation enacted last August to increase renewable energy supplies, gas companies are required to use a certain amount of biogas -- which is derived from organic material such as sewage -- in their city gas supplied to customers.

But since they first unveiled criteria for purchases in 2008, no purchases have taken place. To encourage sewage treatment facilities and others to sell the biogas they produce, Osaka Gas is overhauling its price calculation methods.

Currently, Osaka Gas offers 73.6 yen (US$0.83) per cu. meter of biogas for amounts of at least 500,000 cu. meters but less than 2 million cu. meters. Under the new pricing structure, the price will be doubled to 123.6 yen per cu. meter.

Some sewage treatment facilities already use biogas derived from the waste they process as in-house sources of energy. But in order for the biogas to be sale-ready, producers need to have special equipment on-site to remove impurities.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/osgsf_osaka-gas-to-pay-twice-as-much-for-biogas-821854.html

[kristopher]

1. I like these posts on harnessing our waste streams.

It is an essential part of moving to a sustainable culture.

Thanks.

[Fledermaus]

2. Mutualism (biology)

Biomass is a form of mutualism. It renews relationships with the natural world.

Mutualism is a biological interaction between two organisms, where each individual derives a fitness benefit (i.e. increased survivorship). Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. It can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, or parasitism, in which one species benefits at the expense of the other. Mutualism and symbiosis are sometimes used as if they are synonymous, but this is strictly incorrect: symbiosis is a broad category, defined to include relationships which are mutualistic, parasitic or commensal. Mutualism is only one type.

A well known example of mutualism is the relationship between ungulates (such as cows) and bacteria within their intestines. The ungulates benefit from the cellulase produced by the bacteria, which facilitates digestion; the bacteria benefit from having a stable supply of nutrients in the host environment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_(biology)div]

[kestrel91316]

3. If we stop thinking of waste as WASTE and start thinking of it as

fuel or feedstock for some useful process, were aren't trying to swim UPstream.

There is no such thing as "away".