Devon cheesemaker reduces carbon footprint.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Award-winning farmhouse cheddar maker Parkham Farms has made significant energy savings thanks to a novel heat recovery system specially designed by Moody Systems. The North Devon See also North Devon (UK Parliament constituency) North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon district include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and cheesemaker, which produces up to 4500 tonnes of mature cheddar every year for customers including Pilgrims Pilgrims, in American history, the group of separatists and other individuals who were the founders of Plymouth Colony. The name Pilgrim Fathers is given to those members who made the first crossing on the Mayflower. Choice and North Downs North Downs: see Downs, North, chalk hills, England. Dairy, was keen to keep control of its spiralling energy costs. So when Moody Systems approached entrepreneurial owner Peter Willes with its innovative heat recovery concept, he was immediately interested. "It is very important for the whole dairy industry to improve efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment. We are always keen on improving our green credentials, so we felt that the Moody idea needed seriously looking at," said Peter. The Moody-designed system recovers heat from hot whey whey liquid residue from milk after the removal of cheese curds in the manufacture of cheese. An excellent protein supplement but difficult to handle in the liquid form, except to pigs maintained close to the cheese factory. Dried whey is easy to handle but processing costs are high. that would otherwise be wasted and stores the energy in a secondary system, much like a battery. The system then reuses the stored energy when it's needed, to preheat pre·heat tr.v. pre·heat·ed, pre·heat·ing, pre·heats To heat (an oven, for example) beforehand. pre·heat  er n. the milk before cheesemaking.
The system improves the farm's carbon footprint A carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. by reducing energy losses and cutting utility bills. Peter Willes went on to say: "My initial concerns were that any modification to our traditional farmhouse cheesemaking process might adversely affect our unique cheddar recipe. However, after looking at the details of the Moody system, it seemed to me that there was no risk to our process, but maximum potential gain on our energy use, so we went ahead with the project." One of the major constraints on the project was that due to customer demand for its cheese, Parkham Farms could not afford to be out of production for more than a single weekend. So Moody had to carry out a difficult installation in a very short space of time, with no margin for error. Darren Smith Darren Smith can refer to any of the following people:
As a result of using the Moody system, Parkham Farms continues to manufacture its prize-winning cheddar in the traditional farmhouse manner, but with one of the lowest manufacturing carbon footprints in the country, reducing their fossil fuel fossil fuel: see energy, sources of; fuel. fossil fuel Any of a class of materials of biologic origin occurring within the Earth's crust that can be used as a source of energy. Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. use by 35 per cent. Parkham Farms is also planning to produce all of the electricity used on farms in its supply chain within a 10-mile radius and the dairy by installing two wind turbines on one of the family's owned farms. Contact Moody Systems on tel 01777 701141 or visit www.moodysystems.co.uk |
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