Industrial Hemp as a Revolutionary Coal Alternative

Coal fired power stations in Australia produce 145 Million Tonnes of CO2 per year. This is due to the fact that for each tonne of coal that is consumed to power the station, 2.86 tonnes of CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere.

When looking to alternative fuel sources such as timber the limiting factor is supply. The rate of growth is 15 years for the average pine tree plantation, the fuel demand of a coal power station on average is in excess of 5,000,000 tonnes per year, rendering timber unrealistic.

The stand out alternative is Industrial Hemp. Industrial Hemp can be grown in 6 months and yields 48 tonnes per 1,000 hectares. Burning industrial hemp is carbon neutral and industrial hemp burns at almost 80% the heat of Coal.

Daniel Roberts is Leading a Proposal to Convert Coal Powered Power Station to a Green Hemp Alternative, here is how....

Bituminous Coal

Calorific value, heat value of Coal is: 24 Mj/kg

Ash 9.7%

CO2 produced: 2.86 ton

Industrial Hemp Straws

Calorific value, heat value is 19 Mj/kg

Ash 2.3%

CO2 produced: Neutral

Propose co-firing process of 50% coal with 50% hemp to achieve the high calorific value required.

1 hectare of land will yield approx. 16 ton of hemp. Based on 2 crop cycles a year, we could achieve 32 ton of hemp straws per hectare.

157,000 hectares of land will yield approx. 5,024,000 ton of hemp straws.

Phase 1

Based on 1,000 hectares of land

Operating at 2 x 10 hour/shifts for 48 weeks per year. Allowing for machine maintenance and biannual shutdowns.

One (1) Hemp Process Line to process 6 ton/per hour @ 20-hour shift = 28,800 ton/year

Could be extended to 10 ton/per hour Process Line with a further investment of approx. $4-6Million.

One (1) Hemp Process Line to process 10 ton/hour @ 20-hour shift = 48,000 ton/year

Phase 2

Onwards Based on 157,000 hectares of land

Examples of cropping scenarios:

Cropping on land owned by the company

Cropping on land leased by the company

Cropping by contract growers and/or farmers 52 Hemp Process

Lines of 10 ton/per hour will be required to deliver 48,000-ton x 52 = 2.5 million ton of hemp, the 50% requirement in co-firing.

These 52 Hemp Process Lines can be established across the region, near where the industrial hemp crop is cultivated, thereby creating employment and generating economic activity to the region.

CONVERSION OF COAL TO BIOMASS ELECTRICITY GENERATING FACILITIES

The conversion of dirty coal to biomass means we are reducing harmful omissions and replacing it with a modern, clean and reliable energy system.

We’ll be keeping jobs in the ex-coal fired power plants, instead of job losses due to the phasing out of a dirty polluting plant. Additional jobs will be created or supported in the farming sector and supporting industries in supplying biomass to the new plant, generating economic activity to the region.

One 250 MW coal-fired power plant uses about 520,000 tons of coal and produces about 1.5 million tons/year of CO2. Reduce CO2 emissions by 1.5 million metric tons, the equivalent to taking between 300,000 cars off the road.

ADVANTAGES FOR CO-FIRING IN COAL POWER PLANT

Co-firing is a low-cost option for an efficient and clean conversion of biomass to electricity; this is done by adding biomass in the form of hemp biomass pellets in high-efficiency coal boilers.

There is little or no loss in total boiler efficiency after adjusting combustion output for the new fuel mixture.

The emissions for every one-ton of coal burnt are 2.86 tons of CO2, whereas hemp biomass pellets are considered carbon neutral.

Coal has a calorific value of 24 MJ/kg.

Hemp pellets has a calorific value of 19.1 MJ/kg and wood pellets of 16 MJ/kg

Contact Daniel Roberts today on daniel@quantussolutions.com.au for more information.