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Van Hall Larenstein

Public award for students Van Hall Larenstein

Last year, GasTerra introduced the energy transition year award for "hogescholen". Students were asked to come up with ideas leading to a reduction in energy demand, an increase in the use of sustainable energy sources, reduction of the CO2 emissions, or the increase of fossil fuel yields. Five ideas made it to the shortlist, two of which were submitted by students of Van Hall Larenstein.

Combination
The idea of Jildert Herder, Henk Mulder (students of Bedrijfskunde en Agribusiness), Yang Xiezehua and Zhang ZhiTianHui (students of Milieukunde) won the public award (3rd prize). The students researched the possibility for combining a biogas and ethanol installation on farms. 'The underlying thought is that in a fermenting installation much residual heat remains unused, whereas in ethanol production during the distillation phase much heat is needed," tutor Sietze Bottema of the "hogeschool" explains. 'The students calculated that there should be enough residual heat available at the fermenting installation that could be used for distillation. In consultation with their client, Age van de Mei van Duinn, they conceived a way in which these processes can be technically combined.' The most important adaptation is that the pressure in the cooling system of the gas motor, that uses the biogas to generate electricity, had to be increased. The research shows that this feasible.

Charmed

The jury was critical whether the processing of wheat into bio fuels would be sustainable and ethically sound, but they were quite charmed by the innovative ideas and the way in which these were worked out. 10 Percent of the ten thousand euro award is intended for the students. The rest of the money will benefit the school, that will be able to allocate the money to subjects in the field of energy transition.