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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:21 AM
Waste cycle sustainability and new lifestyles in a changing society Click here to view the best pictures from the Conference "Waste cycle sustainability and new lifestyles in a changing society",...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:27 AM
Government and governance of public utility services Click here to view the best pictures from the Conference "Government and governance of public utility services", held in Bologna on 10 July 2012...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:20 AM
Si Photogallery Bianco Si GRUPPO
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:12 AM
Grande Nero Associations Participation in associations in the areas of managerial training and education. Grande Nero Sotto Find out more Nove dodicesimi Tre dodicesimi Associations
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:11 AM
Grande Nero Events Dialogue with other businesses through testimonials at events. Grande Nero Sotto Find out more Nove dodicesimi Tre dodicesimi Inter-company events
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 9:57 AM
Grande Nero Innovation e Change management We have adopted original and innovative models for managing knowledge and organisational learning processes. Grande Nero Sotto Find out more Nove...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:06 AM
Grande Nero Workshop The Corporate University of Hera Group HerAcademy was opened on 15 December 2011 following a period of research that further confirmed the high qualitative and quantitative...
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Grande Nero Photogallery Grande Nero Sotto Photogallery Nove dodicesimi Tre dodicesimi Photogallery
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:00 AM
Grande Nero Workshop The local area and its community live off knowledge. It is used, transmitted and innovated upon in the productive fabric, in places dedicated to study and civil life. When it...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 10:08 AM
Grande Nero Scientific writing Scientific publications prepared for the planning of HerAcademy Workshops. Grande Nero Sotto Find out more Nove dodicesimi Tre dodicesimi Scientific writing
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Web Content Article on-date Nov 16, 2020 12:33 PM
Grande Nero The HerAcademy Project Heracademy Brochure The brochure introducing the HerAcademy project: the corporate university of the Hera Group. Grande Nero Sotto Heracademy Brochure Nove...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 9:59 AM
Grande Nero HeraOrienta This is a University Orientation and World of Work Orientation initiative, dedicated to dialogue and specifically designed for the children of our employees. Grande Nero...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 3, 2020 9:57 AM
Grande Nero Training activities Training plays a fundamental role for the Group as a crucial factor for personal and professional growth and development. Grande Nero Sotto Discover Training...
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Web Content Article on-date Nov 16, 2020 12:30 PM
Grande Nero The Italian context Corporate university corporate training programmes The research project "Corporate University: corporate training programmes" written by Giulio Pedrini under the...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:24 AM
SI We participate in managerial training and education associations as we believe that continuous dialogue and working within a network are essential components for the development of knowledge and...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:23 AM
Si Associations Bianco Si GRUPPO
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:17 AM
Si Inter-company experiences Bianco Si GRUPPO
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:18 AM
We work together with other companies to create inter-company programmes involving the exchange of resources to leverage the applicable best practices. For example, in recent years we have worked...
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:11 AM
Si Events Bianco Si GRUPPO
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Web Content Article on-date Aug 2, 2020 11:12 AM
SI We are committed to engaging in dialogue with other companies and associations at national level by participating in events and presenting case studies. Some of the most recent events include:...
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An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material.
An investment of Euro 37 million. A plant that disposes of 100 thousand tonnes of organic waste produced by separate waste collection and another 35 thousand tonnes coming from green waste and pruning material. And that, once "digested", produce 7.5 million cubic meters of biomethane fuel that is 100% renewable and 20 thousand tonnes of compost.
These numbers tell the success story of our state-of-the-art plant in Sant'Agata Bolognese, just outside Bologna: the latest great and ambitious project to add to our long list of waste treatment facilities (89 in total, including waste-to-energy plants, composters, and sorting plants). With one big goal: to relaunch the challenge of renewables on an industrial scale and make this plant a reference structure for green energy in Europe.
Biomethane: a clean resource of biological origin
But what makes this natural gas source organic? Simply, the way to get it: not by drilling for hidden deposits in the deepest parts of the Earth but by fermenting organic waste in plants designed to do so. Biomethane can, therefore, be produced for as long as you want, it is endless, and production can be increased simply by building other plants. Making the process one of the purest examples of the circular economy.
In Spilamberto, a biodigester converted into a biomethane plant
An innovative plant for the production of biomethane came into operation in October 2023 in Spilamberto, in the Modena area. It was created by NewCo Biorg, the result of the partnership between the Hera Group and the Inalca company (Cremonini Group), thanks to a total investment of approximately 28 million euros and the use of the best available technologies.
Starting from the separate collection of organic waste and agri-food wastewater, the plant - created from the conversion of an old biodigester - produces 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane every year when fully operational, a 100% renewable fuel intended for transport, and approximately 18 thousand tons of compost.
A cutting-edge plant for the energy transition and the circular economy
The 100% renewable natural gas is produced in the plant from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste coming from the separate collection carried out mainly in Modena and its district, from the waste resulting from the manufacturing process of the local agri-food industry and from the production process of Inalca's meat. Once refined, it becomes biomethane and can be introduced into the gas network.
The environmental benefits are important: around 7 thousand tonnes of CO₂ are avoided
Thanks to the introduction of biomethane into the network and its use in transport, significant environmental benefits are estimated: every year the use of approximately 3 thousand tonnes of fossil fuel oil equivalent (TOE) will be saved and CO₂ emissions will be avoided for approximately 7 thousand tons. To absorb such a quantity of CO₂, an average of 280 thousand trees would be needed.
What happens in our sant’agata facility
Organic waste, obtained through separate waste collection, is processed by anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. How? The waste, shredded and screened, remains for about 21 days in 4 horizontal digesters, where suitable microorganisms carry out the digestion process to produce biogas (consisting of natural gas and carbon dioxide).
Then the biogas is upgraded using pressurized water to dissolve the carbon dioxide and separate the natural gas. The result is biomethane, a gas with a methane content of over 95% and a completely renewable energy source.
But that's not all. At the end of the digestion process, wood-cellulosic material is added to the resulting solid matter to obtain a compact mass that is sent to composting, to produce quality compost, which can be used as potting soil for vases or as a fertiliser in agriculture.
Come find out more about our Sant'Agata Bolognese plant.
Biomethane is, therefore, another revolution based on the circular economy, which all of us in the Hera Group want to pursue. Again, to create shared value, as Herambiente's CEO, Andrea Ramonda, is determined to emphasize:
“The direction we have taken addresses the industrial world as increasingly oriented towards creating shared value and partnerships. We are aware that sustainable waste management, focused on the recovery of waste and compliant with the rules, is an essential factor in today's world, and one that delivers benefits to the entire community).
The idea of the exhibition came from the photographic project commissioned in 2018 to Silvia Camporesi on the occasion of the work being done on the Sant'Agata Bolognese site. The report has been enriched with other shots, thus becoming the complete story of the development of the plant.
The exhibition consists of 11 large-format photographic works which reveal where and how waste takes another form and becomes biofuel. Technology, innovation, industrial process, efficiency, circularity are the messages underlying each of the images captured by the artist.
Silvia Camporesi visited the plant every month for a whole year, documenting the evolution and changes to the facility.
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