In the heart of Seville, where spring infuses the streets with an intoxicating scent of orange blossom, a remarkable journey from sour fruits to clean energy begins. With almost 50.000 orange trees adorning the city, it seems as if Seville is wrapped in a mantle of citrus, but behind this beautiful facade lies a challenge for the local government.
These trees produce approximately three million kilograms of oranges annually, but much of this crop is unsuitable for direct consumption due to their extremely high acidity and exposure to urban pollution. This year, the municipality of Seville has reserved more than 190.000 euros for the collection of these fruits, doubling the budget compared to previous years.
A significant portion of this harvest finds its way to local distilleries, where the valuable essential oils and fragrances are extracted. But since 2020 also for sustainable energy generation. Thanks to an innovative initiative by the Emasesa Municipal Corporation and the local government, these bitter oranges are now being converted into biogas.
Biogas
In 2020, the Municipal Corporation Emasesa and the Municipality of Seville launched a pilot project to use urban oranges for biogas production and electricity generation. The oranges are pressed industrially and the juice is then fermented to produce methane, a key component of biogas. For every thousand kilograms of oranges, this results in approximately 500 liters of juice and 500 kilograms of peel. Remarkably, each thousand kilograms of oranges can generate up to 50 kWh of electricity, which is enough to power five households for a day.
The impact of this process is impressive. With 4.000 tons of oranges produced in Seville annually, the energy generated can be equivalent to the needs of more than 20.000 households during a day. To this must be added the figures from other municipalities or other, unincorporated areas of the city.
The biogas produced is not only used to power Emasesa's treatment plants, but also to power a fleet of eight city buses. These buses, which run on biogas, are not only environmentally friendly but also significantly reduce harmful emissions compared to conventional diesel vehicles, taking the city a big step towards a lower carbon footprint.
Source: spanjevandaag.com
Photo by Mateusz Plinta on Unsplash
