Peanut shells potential power source

A Canadian company has developed and patented a prototype for a peanut shell processing plant.

Surya Ventures’ plant produces power and drinkable water by processing raw, unshelled peanuts into oil and high protein meal.
 
And as the plant produces its own power, it can be situated anywhere, including poor, remote areas without power supply.
 
The plant does not use diesel fuel or grid electricity to generate power.
 
Peanut shells are a renewable energy source that is burned in a boiler where the steam is used to produce electricity and heat.
 
The boiler has also successfully burned wood shavings, sawdust and corn stover.
 
It currently processes six tonnes of unshelled peanuts in 24 hours, a feat positioned between industrial and micro-scale.
 
So far it is suitable for small-scale entrepreneurs in developing economies.
 
However, it has multiple benefits, as Surya’s CEO Rajan Patel explains: “A key benefit is the ability to produce potable water for up to 10,000 people and hot water for 500 people.
 
“This system is poised to bring immediate power and water infrastructure to rural areas, with considerable scope for health and quality of life improvements.
 
“Each system would generate up to 100 rural jobs,” he adds.
 
Peanuts are expansively grown in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Brazil, Argentina and many other African countries.
 
Surya plans to empower people to create their own growth and wealth with a multipurpose product that is potentially highly profitable and a sustainable venture.
 
The system is also being applied to the processing of timber, sunflower seeds, rice and cotton.
 
The company hopes that as the system runs on a developing economy’s staple production volume of raw materials, it will have a positive impact on living standards in developing countries, as well as climate change.
 
Patel concludes: “Surya's system has the potential to fulfil many of the [UN’s Millennium Development] goals, and put a significant dent in rural poverty, while replacing fossil fuel with renewable energy fuels, mitigating global warming.”

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