Andy Blair, CEO Upflow IGC 2018 IRENA - Geothermal Direct Utilization: Food Security Food security and nutrition is one of the biggest concerns for developing countries, including Small Islands Developing States and landlocked countries, which are endowed with geothermal energy resources. In regions such as East Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia, and the South Pacific geothermal energy could be used to heat greenhouses and sterilise the soil to increase farmer productivity and off-season availability. It can also serve for drying, which helps preserve a wide range of foods. This could contribute to higher nutritional value and reduced food waste and result in substantial reduction in the drying space as well as time requirements. The experience of Iceland can be replicated in many other countries and demonstrates that the possibility to address various challenges, including food security and nutrition, through which domestic geothermal resources may turn problems into potential drivers for economic development.

1. GEOTHERMALFUELSPROSPERITY:
FOODFORTHOUGHT
Andy Blair
andy.blair@upflow.nz

2. Direct Use Geothermal
GeoHeat Strategy target by 2030:
• 7.5 PJ/year additional geothermal
direct use
• 500 new jobs in geothermal related
businesses
nzgeoheat.org.nz

4. Direct Use Innovation: Miraka
• Established 2011
• 70,000 cows from 100 farms within 85km of plant
• 300ML of milk processed annually
• Exports milk powder and UHT products
• Geothermal steam for processing operations
• Waste solids go to worm farm and fluids are used
for irrigation
• Product development: Whai Ora smoothies,
Taupo Pure Powders

5. Feeding Methane to Cows
• Convert stranded gas emissions from oil/geothermal industrial waste gas streams into niche
protein and carbohydrate biofeedstocks using NZ naturally sourced non-GM microorganisms
• Demonstrate that the biomass produced suits the nutritional requirements of livestock and other
animals (e.g. aquaculture)
• Avoids scalability issues that have previously depressed the use of lignocellulosic biomass by
using extremophilic microorganisms

6. Integrated Use

7. KIAORA!QUESTIONS?
andy.blair@upflow.nz