By: Ruba Anabtawi

https://goo.gl/fpLBBR

Exclusive to Environment and Development Horizons:

Why not exploit waste in producing clean energy? From this question Al-Jebrini Dairy industry’s idea started in Hebron two years ago in order to get rid of the enormous amount of waste produced by hundreds of cows in their “Cattle Farm” in Al-Thahriya south of Hebron.

 The projects’ idea  is based on turning cows dung into electricity that is sufficient for the RFarm consumption within the so called” Bio-mass energy”, providing electricity to Al-Thahriya town that benefited from part of the project’s surplus and contributes to environmental preservation.

This project is considered environmentally friendly as it disposes the waste of 1200 cows (25 kg per cow daily) that produce odors and insects and contribute to the emission of Methane, one of the major causes of Global Warming. Due to these problems, the search for global modern technology was needed in order to convert the biomass into methane and then into electricity and organic fertilizers.

According to the projects’ technical advisor Dr. Maher Maghalsa, “the Farm currently produces 380 kilowatts of electricity per hour but the amount is expected to increase to one megabyte in case a generator was added. He added that if we estimated the need of Al-Thahriya with 4-6 megabytes per hour, then the farm will be able to provide the town with a quarter of its required electricity”.

Dr.Maghalsa also explained that the pros of the project compared to solar energy other than the environmental preservation and the reduction of harmful gas emission is that the production of electricity will be throughout 24 hours as it’s not associated to sun radiation. On the other hand, the cons are that its very costly compared to solar energy as the selling price of one kilowatt of electricity is very low compared to the purchase price because it is an investment project. which makes the payback period require 12-14 years.

Bahjat Jabareen, the director of the directorate of the Environment Quality Authority in Hebron, explained that the pros of renewable energy projects (bio mass energy, wind and solar energy) are the independence of the Palestinian decision-making through self-reliance on electricity production and the disposal of occupation dependency in addition to resolving the energy supply problems in the villages.  In addition, the project is environmentally friendly and reduces the bad smells, the insects and the impact of harmful gases emitted from cow dung. He also explained that the project will provide labor employment and economic feasibility through the sale of electricity and organic fertilizers (Selling fertilizers produced from solid and liquid waste will provide 60 thousand dollars).

Translated by:  Ghadeer Kamal Zaineh