The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) says it is researching how to convert car engine to use methane as way of tackling climate change.
Victor Sibanda, the Zera research and efficiency engineer, told the recent Energy to Waste Conference organised by The Standard in Kariba that waste energy has become part and parcel of renewable energy efficiency.
Sibanda said Zera was exploring how petrol or diesel can be substituted with methane for cars to improve energy efficiency.
“Biogas contains methane, sulphur and other impurities,” he said.
“What happens is that if you scrub and clean it and remove the impurities, you can get methane of purity levels to about 98%.
“These purity levels will make the methane usable for other applications, cooking or even for vehicles because it will be in such a state that it can be used for combustion, which can then be used in engines.
“Because of that now, you can have engines which are modified to work on methane.
“As you probably might know, there are other engines right now which are working on liquefied petroleum gas,
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”It’s the same principle, which will be used on that, so that is why we probably need to go that route.”
Sibanda said methane was a resource which might be available, especially to local authorities from their wastewater ponds.
He said it would be very possible for councils to go that route and use the methane to power their fleet of vehicles for operations and it will be a substitute for either fossil fuel, which is diesel, or petrol.
He added that they will be using a source which they easily generate, which will lower their operational costs.
“The authority has done a study on the impact of removal of Vat and that's why we are doing that,” Sibanda added.
“There are many benefits which can accrue to the nation with people having energy efficient equipment and going towards renewable energy, because one will be freeing up capacity for other uses, mainly the productive use or industrial use of energy by having this energy efficient equipment.
“So the benefit of it is that revenue will increase by productive use of energy, which is being freed up by this equipment and gadgets which are efficiently using energy.”
Sibanda said efficient energy use meant that the country could have excess capacity.
“That’s the virtual power station which we have created in doing so,” he said. “We are still waiting for the feedback on that, but it’s something which we have done, we think, and we believe it’s something which is very good for our nation.
