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A Canadian company, Surya Ventures, has developed a prototype plant (patent applied for) that produces power and potable water while processing raw, unshelled peanuts into oil and high protein meal. Because the plant generates its own power, it can be located anywhere, including remote regions that have no power supply. It also does not use diesel fuel or grid electricity to generate power.
Peanut shells (a renewable energy resource) are burned in a boiler where steam is used to produce electricity and heat. The boiler has also successfully burned wood shavings, sawdust, and corn stover.
Specifically developed for small scale entrepreneurs in developing economies, this system processes six tons of unshelled peanut in 24 hours, positioned between industrial and micro-scale. It packs a multitude of benefits.
Rajan Patel, Surya's CEO, explains: "A key benefit is the ability to produce potable water for up to 10,000 people and hot water for 500 people. This system is poised to bring immediate power and water infrastructure to rural areas, with considerable scope for health and quality of life improvements. Each system would generate up to 100 rural jobs."
Peanuts are extensively grown in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Brazil, Argentina and many other African countries. They stand to benefit greatly from this multifaceted system. Surya's integrated agro-processing system empowers people to create their own growth and wealth. It is a truly unique multipurpose product designed for rural areas, and is a highly profitable and sustainable venture.
Besides peanut, the system lends itself to being applied to the processing of timber, sunflower seeds, rice and cotton. Viewed against the backdrop of the immense production volumes of these agricultural raw materials, a shift of even a small percentage to Surya's system would trigger a global transformation in rural living standards, a modern miracle in the making.
"Surya's system has the potential to fulfill many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) goals, and put a significant dent in rural poverty, while replacing fossil fuel with renewable energy fuels, mitigating global warming," concludes Rajan Patel.
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