BioCycle September 2010, Vol. 51, No. 9, p. 71

Kitchen Unit Adds Ease To Food Waste Recycling
BioCycle was excited to trade our 5-gallon bucket for the revolutionary new 13- gallon CompoKeeper (also available in 3-gallon countertop storage and 33-gallon restaurant sizes). Like the website (www.compokeeper.com) says, it’s like having a huge Zip-Lock bag inside a trash container that can be opened and closed by stepping on a foot pedal or turning a handle. An under-the-cabinet model automatically opens and closes as the cabinet door is opened and closed. Better still, if you are using compostable trash bags, they can be tied off when full and composted at home, at a local facility or set out curbside where food waste collection is offered. BioCycle editors can vouch for this product as we had it in our office kitchen for several weeks until the bag was filled, with no detectable odors.

Hydrogen From Algae
OriginOil announced an invention that generates hydrogen from living algae, thus providing additional energy from bioreactors. Unlike previously tried technologies, the new Hydrogen Harvester uses little or no external energy inputs, requires no sulfur deprivation or other stressing of the algae and does not require genetic modification. The process employs viable, high-growth-rate, high-oil-content algae strains. The result is a photosynthetic technology platform that yields energy in the form of oil, biomass and hydrogen. Recovering hydrogen provides the necessary ingredients for electricity generation using fuel cells. The energy can be used to offset the electricity requirements of algae cultivation, harvesting and downstream processing. Visit http://www.originoil. com for more information.

Methane Potential Test
Bioprocess Control’s Automated Methane Potential Test System (AMPTS) takes on-line measurements of ultra low biogas and biomethane flows produced from the anaerobic digestion of any biological degradable substrate at the laboratory scale. The AMPTS follows the same analyzing principles as conventional biochemical methane potential tests, making the results fully comparable with common methods. Gas volume measurements and data logging are fully automatic during the long incubation period. The anaerobic degradation of a specific biomass substrate can be monitored as either biogas production or biomethane by connecting the optional CO2 stripping step. Both gas volume and flow rate are displayed and recorded. Data can be used to extract kinetic information of the degradation process, which in turn provides a much better understanding of the dynamic degradation behavior of a specific biomass substrate. Visit www.bioprocesscontrol.com.

GaiaRecycle launches interactive website
Visitors to GaiaRecycle’s new website are taken on a visual tour of the company’s modular systems, plant-level implementations and anaerobic digestion solutions that employ patented technology to turn food scraps and other organic waste into soil amendments and energy resources, while reducing volume and weight by up to 90 percent. The product sections highlight systems ranging from 220 lbs/day to 2 tons/day for small-volume and mid-sized users, and up to 100-plus tons/day for large organic waste recycling plants. View GaiaRecycle’s new website at http://www.gaiarecycle.com.