A fruit juice producer company located in Afyonkarahisar obtains electrical energy from the biogas of approximately 100 tons of fruit waste per day, and converts the remaining waste into fertilizer for its orchards. The company's general manager, while sharing the objectives of the company, outlined their plan to meet energy needs from renewable energy sources with the concept of zero waste as the aim of the company in order to ensure a sustainable environment.
Within the scope of the "Sustainable Biomass Use Project to Support the Development of the Turkish Economy on the Path to Green Growth" carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the fruit juice company has implemented the "Biogas and Electricity Production from Fruit Waste" project in an area of 20,000 square meters (215,278.21 square feet) near its 80,000 square meter factory.
The company transforms biogas into electrical energy at the biogas power plant it has established and provides it to the city grid. The steam generated during electricity generation is transported through pipes and used in the fruit juice factory.
In addition, 2.3 megawatts of the average 3.4 megawatts of electricity needed for production in the fruit juice facility is provided by the solar panels installed on the roof of the factory. The seeds of the fruits that are separated during production are taken by the other firms to be used as a solid fuel.
The general manager provided information about the environment-oriented works of the factory and said they started working on how to evaluate the waste left over from the fruits they process in 2018.
In addition, he said that they have started the establishment of biogas production with the idea that the areas where they can best evaluate fruit wastes are biomethanization production firms. They process approximately 100 tons of fruit waste per day in this facility, which they started to use actively in 2019 and has an hourly capacity of 1.16 megawatts.
He said that they offer fruit production to the consumer without waste, and they transform the fruit wastes, which are produced sustainably, into electrical energy and steam production in their biogas factories. They use this steam in their concentrate facilities.
He explained they were deemed worthy of the "Energy Globe Awards" last year for their biogas and electricity production project. Besides, they think that renewable energy is one of the important points of sustainability. Fossil fuels greatly impact our world in terms of carbon footprint. "Hence, we're thinking of getting it from our resources," he said.