This project is now available for funding, and its status is set out below. Please contact Dick Sisman for more information about contributing to this project, quoting its reference number 'TP007' in all correspondence.
| Project Status Table for TICOS Project TP007 | |
| Date verified by TICOS: | 7 January 2008 |
Estimated project cost: |
175,000 euros
|
Project timescale: |
10 Years (with an evaluation after 3 years) from receipt of funding |
| Additional sustainable development benefits: | Please refer to project details below. |
The lower Danube region is recognised as a place of global ecological importance as 'Europe's subtropical zone'. It holds the largest complex of wetlands, riverine forests and steppes in Central Europe. There are over 1,000 species of flowers and more than 200 birds including pelicans, herons and eagles. This project aims to help manage this fragile ecosystem by using local resources (reeds) for fuel in a sustainable manner.
This project wishes to install a small-scale briquetting plant at the premises of a local reed harvesting company at Reni (Odessa Oblast) in the lower Danube region. Using local reed that can be manufactured into briquettes, it will provide renewable solid fuel to nearby premises, especially hotels, small farms and schools. The project will act as a flagship enterprise, demonstrating sustainable energy consumption through renewable biomass utilisation. A single briquetting machine is estimated to save around 1 million kWh per year, the equivalent of 430 tonnes of CO2.
In addition to offsetting CO2, this project has a number of additional community and environmental benefits. It will create local employment in winter (for harvesting) outside of the farming season and reduce pressure on scarce native riverine woodlands along the Danube. It will also enhance the management of reedbeds for biodiversity through rotational cutting (at present they are simply randomly burned), leading in turn to higher ecotourism attraction.
The overall project period is 30 months for installation (including adaptation of boilers and ovens), training, monitoring and replication. Thereafter, the plant will operate independently.