Bananas another important source of bio energy.

Banana is one of the most important fruit crops in the world.Banana production is a tropical, herbaceous and perennial crop and belongs to the Musaceae family, which produces one huge flower cluster and then dies. The plant is cut to bring the crop down, thus the stem and leaves turn into lignocellulosic biomass. Once a bunch arrives at the packaging plant, the bunch rachis becomes residual biomass too. The ratio of banana waste and product is 2:1. The lignocellulosic biomass is either left on the ground or taken to open dumps. In the first case, the process leads to maintain the soil moisture and provide organic matter, but it is a potential risk of transmission of disease and, in both cases, the lignocellulosic biomass produce greenhouse gases as they decompose. Researchers from the Agro-Energy Group at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) have used geographic information systems to assess the potential use of the residual biomass of bananas produced in the province of El Oro (Ecuador) for bioenergy applications. Results show that the use of this waste could satisfy the 55% of the electrical demand of the region and the 10% of bioethanol demand nationwide. In addition to lignocellulosic biomass there is another residue, that

Duke Energy to buy power from swine, poultry waste.

A new facility that captures methane gas to generate renewable electricity will be built in North Carolina Duke Energy, a sustainable electric and gas company that serves 7.3 million customers in the midwestern and southeastern United States, plans to purchase swine and poultry waste output from a facility planned for North Carolina – using the captured methane gas to generate renewable electricity at four power stations. Carbon Cycle Energy will build and own the facility, which is to be located in eastern North Carolina, although the exact location of the facility has not yet been announced. "It is encouraging to see the technological advances that allow waste-to-energy projects in North Carolina to be done in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner for our customers," said David Fountain, Duke Energy president -North Carolina. Under North Carolina's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS), Duke Energy companies must meet specific compliance targets for swine and poultry waste. Duke Energy is already buying electricity generated from other facilities in the state. "We are pleased to partner with Carbon Cycle Energy to help meet our compliance objectives," added Fountain. "The gas from this project will generate carbon neutral electricity compared to the emissions that would result if the waste was left to decay naturally." Expanding the utility's renewable energy output, the captured methane will be treated, injected into the pipeline system and used at four Duke Energy plants in North Carolina. Under a 15-year term, Carbon Cycle Energy is expected to produce more than 1 million MMBtus of pipeline-quality captured methane a year. Duke Energy should yield about 125,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy a year – enough to power about 10,000 homes for a year. The renewable energy credits (RECs) generated annually by the effort will help satisfy state mandates. contributed by wattagnet.