Clean waste

Every week Zhong Kaimin drives around 100 km to Deqingyuan's chicken farm in Yanqing county north of downtown Beijing. Apart from looking after the operation, the egg empire founder says his time at the farm is somewhat relaxed.

"I really enjoy the blue sky, fresh air and the clean water in the farm," he says. "It's far away from the crowded city and brings me joy and peace."

Deqingyuan built the farm in 2002. After several expansions, there are around 3 million chickens in the farm.

Under the principle of animal welfare, all the birds are provided with the best living environment. The farm gives them adequate cage sizes, healthy food, clean water, and ensures they are well rested.

In order to guarantee high quality chicken feed, Deqingyuan provides high-grade organic fertilizer (made from its own waste) to local farmers to enable them to grow corn, which Deqingyuan buys as feed at a higher-than-market price.

Chickens generate massive amounts of waste, and getting rid of it can be a problem. So while Deqingyuan turns much of it into fertilizer, the company now produces far more waste than it can absorb and the company has constructed a biogas plant.

The project will convert the waste into methane gas, which can be used to produce electricity. The electricity produced will more than meet the company's own needs, so it is exploring opportunities to sell the rest.

Deqingyuan cooperated with US-based General Electric to build the biogas plant this year. The plant is expected to reduce the equivalent of about 95,000 tons of CO2 per year. It can also reduce the farm's dust levels and further enhances the area's air and water quality.

Equipped with GE's Jenbacher gas engines, the project can produce 14,600 megawatt-hours of electricity per year. By using the biogas for power generation instead of coal-fired power, the plant is expected to reduce the equivalent of about 95,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Deqingyyuan will also benefit from a new revenue stream through the sale of Certified Emission Reductions.

"This biogas project will quickly pay for itself by meeting Deqingyuan's demand for cost-effective electricity and heat," Jack Wen, president and CEO of GE Energy China earlier said in a company statement. "We estimate that the customer will save more than $1.2 million a year in electricity costs alone.

"Energy conservation and environmental protection are important focus during our manufacturing process," says Zhong. "We aim to build our farm into a big garden."

(China Daily 12/22/2008 page12)