L’oreal will use biogas from poop power to manufacture hair care products
By Susan Wilson
L’oreal’s Libramont plant in Belgium is expected to finish work on an anaerobic digestion power plant later this summer. The plant will use a slurry made from local cow manure as its basic source of methane gas.
According to businessGreen.com 85 percent of the companies power will come from the anaerobic digestion system that is being built. Since there are a lot of cattle farms in Libramont’s vicinity, L’Oreal should have plenty of cow poop to keep the plant running for many years to come.
By building an anaerobic system to power its Libramont plant, L’oreal is generating green energy and is recycling the animal waste from local farms solving a major problem for them. Animal waste is one of the most difficult problems for many farms to deal with. L’Oreal is providing a perfect solution.
The Libramont plant is the first step in L’Oreal’s plan to cut carbon emissions from its plants 50 percent based on 2005 levels by 2015. In order to meet it’s goals, the company is planning on building more onsite renewable energy power plants and sourcing the rest of the energy from green energy suppliers, especially in the United States. The company already is planning to implement PV or solar thermal technology at all of its new facilities.
L’Oreal is also expecting to lower its use of water and cut down on plant waste. By using rainwater capture and steam cleaning, the company expects to cut its water usage by 30-35 percent.
Anaerobic digestion is being used in other parts of the EU. The UK is funding three to six projects that use animal, human and food waste as their sources of biogas through anaerobic digestion. By investing in these projects the UK is hoping to solve several problems at one time. These new power plants should provide green energy as well as remove a number of waste products from the environment.
Anyone living on or near a farm in the United States should lobby for more political backing and funds for anaerobic digestion plants since these plants not only generate energy but also contain the nasty smell from all of the animal waste. Not only would your area benefit from renewable energy but the atmosphere will be much more enjoyable.
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