New Bio-gas Furnace Begins to Operate in Miskolc29 January 2009
Environmentally-conscious district heating services with the help of EU funding
European gas supplies have been uncertain for three years running due to the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute. In order to reduce dependency, the demand for a secure energy supply encourages energy service companies to increasingly turn toward the exploitation of alternative and renewable energy sources.
The professional placement of the communal waste of Miskolc and its surrounding settlements was a serious problem during the nineties. Hungary’s biggest communal waste site located in Miskolc along Bogáncs Road was shut down on 1 June 2006 and subsequently re-cultivated – back in 2006 – with the help of EU funding. Biogas was formed by the decomposition of the organic material trapped underneath the sealed dump site, the use of which is equally advantageous from an environmental protection and economical perspective.
The company Miskolc Hőszolgáltató Ltd. (Miskolc Heat Services Ltd.) was approved non-reimbursable funding of 197 million HUF in value in spring 2008 within the framework of the Environment and Energy Operational Programme of the New Hungary Development Plan. Therefore, the European Union is financing nearly 40% of the investment.
The investment is being implemented in two phases. Following the completion of the 2050-meter-long gas pipeline in the first phase, the gas furnace equipped with a state-of-the-art burner suitable for burning bio-gas was installed in the heating plant of Hejőcsaba housing estate, which Mayor Sándor Káli officially opened on 27 January.
In the second phase of the project, a gas motor suitable for electricity production will be installed to complement the current system, following which heat energy produced by the gas motor will be used to provide district heating.
According to the survey conducted among the residents of Hejőcsaba housing estate, 93% of respondents said that using bio-gas for district heating is important for environmental protection reasons, whilst 100% of respondents said that it is important for reducing natural gas use.
Reducing dependency on natural gas energy resources and improving the living conditions of the population with the help of this cheap source of natural energy ready to be exploited are the ultimate objectives of bio-gas energy use. The highest possible ratio of green energy use favourably contributes to creating a cleaner and healthier living environment.