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Electricity from Biogas in Thailand


The project has made the palm oil factory's wastewater plant less damaging to the climate.


Project Type
Biomass/BiogasBiomass/Biogas Methane reductionsMethane reductions
Project NameUnivanich Lamthap POME Biogas Project and Univanich TOPI Biogas Project
Project LocationThailand, Krabi Province
Project StandardGold Standard CDM (Lamthap ID 458 and TOPI ID 460)
Emission Reductions374,000 (Lamthap) and 134,000 (TOPI) t CO2e (share of total reductions)
Situation without projectMethane emissions and fossil power
Project StatusOperation
Project ValidationTÜV SÜD (Lamthap) and SGS (TOPI)
Project StartOctober 2008 (Lamthap) and October 2009 (TOPI)
DocumentationsUNFCCC Project Documentation (Lampthap)
Gold Standard Project Documentation (Lampthap)
UNFCCC Project Documentation (Topi)
Gold Standard Project Documentation (Topi)

In southern Thailand, climate-damaging methane gas is trapped at two large wastewater plants. Energy produced from the biogas is used at the plants themselves and is fed into the local power grid.

The industrial processing of palm oil produces copious amounts of wastewater. Treating this wastewater causes heavy emissions of methane - a gas that is some twenty times more harmful than CO2. Before the project began, the wastewater at the Lamthap and TOPI factory was being treated anaerobically in open ponds in line with the normal and cheapest practices in the palm oil sector and in Southeast Asia. However, the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in wastewater leads to climate-damaging methane emissions, and until now, these could freely enter the atmosphere. 

For these two projects, a CIGAR system (Covered In-Ground Anaerobic Reactor) developed by the New Zealand company Waste Solutions Ltd was installed. This enables, on the one hand, an optimum anaerobic decomposition of organic matter thus producing more methane gas (biogas) while, on the other hand, the methane produced is trapped by a membrane and used for energy. The biogas is burnt in biogas engines (952 kW each). The resulting renewable electricity is utilised for the plant's energy supply and is sold to the local network operator, the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA). Thailand's electricity is mainly produced by using natural gas. Besides the reduction of methane, the plant enables the sludge that builds up in the ponds to be skimmed off and used as fertiliser on the fields. Moreover, additional jobs have been created and a technology transfer has taken place. 

The sustainability of the project is tested by the Gold Standard. Besides the treatment of wastewater, the environmental and social standards and the practices of the company in general are also investigated. Univanich Palm Oil Public Co. Ltd., which runs the projects, has been a member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) since May 2009 and hence committed to contributing towards the sustainable production of palm oil.

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