PoWGEN - Pangasius and other Waste for Green Energy Needs

Access to sustainable (green) and affordable electricity in remote places is always a challenge in any part of the word, in particular if the location is out of the main electrical grid. This can be particularly challenging in the Mekong River Delta (MKD) in Vietnam, where small-farms of _Pangasius_ fish, also recognised as catfish, have to find affordable alternatives to frequent energy outages and inefficiently electrical grid coverage. In this part of South Asia, electricity is a necessary utility but costly and sometimes unreliable component of aquaculture. Although grid-sourced energy is economical, in farming regions with frequent energy outages, electricity generators are frequently used to provide backup energy.

Diesel fuel used for powering those generators can decrease earning margins to 17%. The addition of solar panel systems would add significant CAPEX investments of up to $20,000 per hectare, while needing the availability of suitable land. Currently, farmers represent a significant bottleneck in the Vietnamese aquaculture supply chain. Operating with low productivity and efficiency, these farms often have high mortality and poor farm management. Short-term changes are a first step for tackling these problems. Farmers are key to the transformation of the entire supply chain's profitability, output, and quality. Because these short-term changes in production methods are implemented on an individual basis, it is unlikely that they will sufficiently address the structural and environmental challenges the industry is facing. To truly transform the industry and create lasting financial returns and environmental change, a holistic approach is needed.

In this innovative project a feasibility study will be performed to techno-economic assessment models and energy analysis of using Pangasius fish processing wastes (e.g. guts, heads and frames) and fish mortalities (morts) from Vietnamese aquaculture as biodiesel feedstock to model and design decentralised fish waste-to-biodiesel facilities to be used in the Vietnamese aquaculture for sustainable and decentralised electrical energy generation, in particular to be used in the MKD area. The energy production from sustainable biodiesel will then be demonstrated at a location in Vietnam. This model will be developed into a detailed business plan for future commercialisation and an opportunity for industry and community engagement.

Green Fuels Ltd has continuously been working on sustainable projects which address the energy trilemma in developing countries, particularly in the valorisation of local waste sources into energy.