Deploying Pyrochemy For Improved Agro-Processing And Renewable Energy

Amidst the challenges confronting the world suffering from adverse climatic conditions arising from climate change, Pyrochemy technology is increasingly being deployed to advance agro-processing activities in rural communities, as well as providing renewal energies for off-grid communities. SEGUN ADEBAYO reports on this new innovation set to transform waste developed by Pyrogenesys and its consortium partners.

Pyrochemy is a renewable energy technology developed and patented by a United Kingdom-based company, Pyrogenesys. The technology is a carbon removal system and converts agricultural waste to renewable electricity. The main drive of the Pyrochemy process is the transformation of “waste biomass” into a decentralised source of Combined Cooling, Heat, Power (CCHP) and value-added commodities like biochar smokeless fuel briquettes. The CCHP concept is designed to handle a much wider range of feedstocks than the conventional gasifier technologies currently on the market”.

Conversion of biomass into energy

In countries where there is an abundance of biomass, access to high volumes of abundant biomass, there is a cheap cost of processing of high volumes of cheap, abundant waste biomass, using Pyrochemy technology to clean-carbon neutral cooling, heat & power at a very competitive unit cost per kWh.

The Pyrochemy technology has been developed and deployed across the African continent, where populations are subjected to power outages due to inappropriate technology that make the production of energy very costly and access to power is encumbered by so many factors. Pyrochemy is suited to African food processors and farming communities through the conversion of locally available agricultural waste for production of renewable energy. Apart from seeking to reduce the Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which contributes to global warming, the greenhouse effect has been identified as the main driver to climate change that leaves devastating consequences on the environment and nature.

Apart from deliberately working to reduce the amount of GHGs produced from agricultural waste and providing cheaper option, other than fossil fuels, the Pyrochemy technology is anchored in providing energy for small-scale power generation and servicing areas where households are divided into widely-spaced clusters.

PPA2 Consortium Visit to Nigeria 

Speaking in Abuja recently when the PyroPower Africa (PPA2) visited Nigeria, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Pyrogenesys, Mr. Simon Ighofose, said the deployment of the technology in Nigeria has become imperative as the vast arable land shows that Nigeria possesses the skills in tackling challenges faced by Nigeria in the area of food security.

According to Ighofose, “Pyrogenesys has invented a technology that has been patented. The technology is called Pyrochemy. This technology can take any type of agricultural waste, heat it without oxygen, and break it down into two major parts. The first part is a vapour, which is a fuel. We burn that vapour to generate renewable electricity and renewable heat. The second part is a solid similar to charcoal, but it is a very special form of carbon. We upgraded it into a biofertilizer. We then supply that biofertilizer back to the farmers from whom we initially obtained the waste. This gives farmers a locally produced biofertilizer that can outperform imported inorganic NPK, which reduces soil fertility. Soil fertility needs carbon to become more fertile.

Providing insight on what biofertiliser does in enriching soil, the Founder/CEO of Pyrogenesys said that “When farmers put this into the soil, it removes carbon from the environment for 100 million years. This process helps in the fight against climate change. At the last COP28 in Dubai, over $160 trillion was pledged for people who can help fight climate change. We hope that all those who pledged to invest in climate and carbon removal projects will consider what Nigerian farmers are doing with Pyrochemy technology and the PyroPower Africa consortium led by PyroGenesys.”

In advancing and transforming the rustic agricultural methods of farming, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), a member of the consortium, is set to roll out a Mechanization Hub Model, whereby its scope includes, among others, farmer aggregation by bringing services closer to farmers; bundling of mechanization services with Agro-inputs to strengthen Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs) and farmers’ training and capacity-strengthening on Agribusiness;  gender mainstreaming and youth engagement.

According to the Senior Manager, Policy, Agribusiness and Commercialization of AATF, and Interim Managing Director of Agridrive Nigeria Ltd, Dr Daniel Kyalo Willy, “AATF brings two elements to the projects. One is the mobilisation of the farmers who are involved in the production of cassava. After we mobilize the farmers, we train them on good agronomic practices because we want them also, apart from supplying the biomass, to also increase the yield of their tubers of cassava. The second thing is, we are bringing to them mechanism services because they need to produce less drudgery approaches”.

Apart from working for a prosperous and nutrition secured Africa, Willy said that AATF is also poised to transforming livelihoods of African farmers through innovative agricultural technologies and expanding the frontiers of next-gen products, adding, “we are also engaged in promoting the creation of functional environment for increased uptake of technologies and efficient markets in Africa.

The consortium comprises funders and partners, including Professor Kevin Tansey and Dr Matthew Payne from the University of Leicester. Prof Tansey noted that, using the Satellite Earth Observation Data, they are able to identify harvest date, crop yield indications and crop identification. Describing the Pyrochemy technology as a game changer in resolving some of the problems confronting agriculture in Nigeria, the researcher expressed delight that deploying the new technology is capable of resolving some of the challenges in both the agric and power sectors. Tansey’s position is shared by Dr Payne who sees the success of the new technology as very promising, taking into cognisance the abundance of biomass in the country.

Nigeria’s Managing Director of Hello Tractor, Dr Nneka Enwonwu, said the outfit operates in 10 African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. According to Nigeria’s Managing Director, Hello Tractor facilitates services for over one million shareholder farmers, across 3 million acres through 3,000+ tractors. Describing Hello Tractor as representing the largest farm equipment market place, in the emerging markets, she revealed that it has “introduced pay-as-you-go tractor finance products that are increasing the amount of equipment in the market, financing the unbanked and promoting conservation agriculture”.

Already, farmers in Oyo State are set to reap from the benefits of the Pyrochemy when the technology is fully launched in the near future. When fully launched, the new technology will tackle post-harvest losses, mechanization, process, biofertilizer production, biofuel production, climate-smart agriculture, rural development and industrialisation, job creation for youth and women, and boosting food production and security.

Before concluding their visits to Abuja, the nation’s capital, members of the consortium visited selected government organisations for strategic partnership, with the intention of collaboration in deploying the new technology in resolving challenges militating against Nigeria’s development, and at the same time obtain the buy-in of relevant public agencies for advocacy.

Visit to ATMANCorp in Ibadan

Shortly after the Abuja visit, the PPA2 Consortium visited ATMANCorp Farm in Ido, Oyo State, where the plans have been finalised to fully install the Pyrochemy technology. In a meeting attended by smallholder farmers in the areas, they confessed to have commenced reaping bountifully as a result of improved technology introduced by ATMANCorp that is family owned and has a daily processing capacity of 100 tons root. Some of its clients include multinational companies (MNCs) that include Nestle Promasidor and Nestle who    are engaged in buying cassava flour produced by the company, while using the biomass for producing renewable energy and bio-fertilizer for farmers.

Speaking to newsmen after the consortium’s visit to the  ATMANCorp Cassava Mill in Oyo State, the Managing Director of the Mill, Mr. Seyi Oyenuga, said the project is aimed at empowering farmers through enhancing their agricultural production. He expressed the hope that when the Pyrochemy technology is fully launched, the necessary eco system shall be automated to provide renewable energy, including selling bio-fertilizer at a lower cost than the chemical fertilizer.

He lamented that the factory used no fewer than 150 litres per day and bemoaned the high cost to the company. He noted that, with the planned launching of Pyrochemy technology, biomass would be deployed to produce biofuel and bio-fertilizer for the use of farmers.

The Chief Executive Officer of Pyrogenesys disclosed that the Consortium of companies is set to partner the Oyo State government towards boosting food production in the state. The essence of the partnership, he pointed out, is to create a partnership for employment opportunities for teeming youths in Oyo State and beyond through renewable energy. Identifying benefits to be accrued to farmers, Ighofose said the proposed partnership would be of greater benefits not only to the farmers but the entire people in Oyo state.

According to the Ighofose, “We have had a series of meetings with the farmers on renewable energy. We have let them realise that their farmland waste can be converted into use as a source of energy. The waste on the farmland can be converted to bio-energy, bio-fuels, bio-fertilizer to mention but few. Most of the companies in Nigeria are operating at a loss with total dependency on the oil and gas sector as the only source of energy. This has resulted in a geometric hike in the prices of the finished products”.

Expressing happiness that, “with a shift to bio-fuels, the consumer will pay less for the product while electricity generation will no longer be cumbersome”, Aside, the farmers will have access to bio-fertilizer to boost food production nationwide. This development, if religiously earnest, will increase the GDP rate of the state”.

Recognising that most rural communities are unbanked and suffer from financial exclusion, Mr Andrew Otiko, who is the Chief Executive Officer of MOBINET, a financial technology company is fully equipped to provides technology infrastructure that assist in banking services, including mobile banking, reliable and secure payments, remittances, ATM service, among others.

Managing Director of Pyrogenesys Nigeria Ltd, Mrs. Israela Enyi-Ighofose, is pleased with the outcome of the visit which provided an opportunity for synergy with governments and critical stakeholders for collaboration. She is optimistic that with the formal launch of the Pyrochemy plant that shall take place soon, the nation will be availed of the new technology to provide energy to off-grid communities and enhance agricultural activities in rural areas.

Assured future with Pyrochemy

It’s indisputable that the visit by the PPA2 Consortium from the United Kingdom has not only opened bright prospects in deploying Pyrochemy in advancing new frontiers, but also drew the attention of government agencies and officials on the need to take advantage of the new technology for enhanced agricultural growth and renewable energy focus.  Being a technology primarily founded to recycle locally available agricultural waste materials into renewable energy without harming the environment, the Pyrochemy unit has the advantage of being transferred to remote locations worldwide with ease. The Pyrochemy unit can then use waste biomass from these locations to generate electricity, heat and biofuels.

The Pyrochemy technology promises to evolve cleaner means of producing energy, as well as assist farmers clear their farms of biomass at no cost. With a renewed vision in mechanized farming, the agricultural sector is set to experience a revolution never been seen before.  The new technology is also poised to empower smallholder farmers reap huge harvests through cheaper agricultural inputs, and, at the same time, create a circular economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing and recycling existing materials for as long as possible to the benefits of stakeholders.

With the Pyrochemy plant set to be fully launched in Oyo State in the coming months, it won’t take a long time for other states to join in the race to embrace a technology that has the potential of improving the fortunes of Nigeria’s agriculture and energy sectors.