Juhnde

Juhnde is a village of 750 inhabitants settled in the rolling countryside in the district of Göttingen. The aspiration of this extraordinary village was to set up a cooperative in the form of an energy company to provide renewable energy for Juhnde, an also to spread the message of renewable energy to other villages, companies and schools. Of the 170 dwellings in the village, 140 have signed up to the provision of heating from the eco- project, and the first full year of production was in 2006. The project has proved to be such a success that 4 other similar village projects have been set up in the vicinity, with more anticipated.

The project is run on the following principles: cow slurry from the neighbouring village farms is mixed with silage in a digester. This gives off gases which power a large engine. This engine generates electricity which is then fed into Germany 's grid. Coolant water from the engine is then pumped into the village's heating system. It is then further heated to 75 degrees via a bio-mass system at the plant, which uses wood from the neighbouring forests and roadside hedgerows. This is then pumped via underground insulated pipes into the houses to provide central heating. After the hot water leaves each house, at 65 degrees, it returns to be heated up again.

The slurry comes from 400 cows from farms around the village, and each farmer signs up to ensure a continual supply of the necessary materials. Silage is made on site, stored in clamps, and consists of grass, maize, and silage made from triticale which is a hybrid of wheat and rye, in other words, exactly the same as the cows eat.

There is oil fired back up plant, for when temperatures drop to extreme temperatures at -15 degrees, and also in the event of the need for emergency back up due to a problem with the digester.

In addition there is a large bank of revolving photo-voltaic panels on site.

So what are the benefits of this system? These can be listed as follows:

• There is a CO2 reduction of approximately 3000 tonnes per annum
• The villagers still pay for their heating, but the approximate Euros 350,000 pa is ploughed back into the local economy, rather than being paid to external oil companies
• Local farmers are given the benefit of fixed price contracts for 25% of their harvest for the crops needed for the digester.
• There is an excess of energy produced in the summer months. This is used to dry the wood chips and grain, but there would be enough to heat a communal swimming pool in the summer, if one was available.
• The cooperative employs 1.5 people to collect the slurry from neighbouring farms and to man the project
• The project has been an inspiration to those across the world, and there are approximately 2000 visitors a year from all over the world.
• After the process, the remainder of the extract from the slurry is returned to the farmers as fertilizer for use on the fields for the production of future crops.

What does all of this cost?

The initial set up costs are as follows. 5.3 million raised as follows (in Euros)

Seed capital raised from 140 village participant households 500,000

Government money from EU Leader, Central Government and the Government of Lower Saxony 1, 500,000

Bank credit 3,300,000

Over the last year, the annual running costs were Euros 350,000. These were made up of 160,000 for bank and credit charges, and the remainder on the cost of the silage and wood, collecting slurry, employee costs, and general maintenance.

In 2006 there was a small loss, in 2007 a balance, and for 2008 there was a hope of small profit although this is more likely to be achieved in 2009.

For the participating households, they pay between Euros 1,600 and 1,700 p.a. for hot water to provide heating. This is broadly equivalent to what they would pay for oil, but as they do not have any boilers there is the saving on provision and maintenance of boilers. Their electricity is generated by the bio-mass system and photo-voltaic panels and then sold back to the Electricity Company which supplies electricity to the village. There is no financial benefit to the village as cheaper electricity, but it provides income to fund the hot water system, thereby reducing the cost of the supply of hot water to each household.

Additionally there is an offset in their carbon foot print on the electricity each household buys.