AgriSuccess
Manure to electricity
Canadian farms embrace biogas
by Lorne McClinton
Electricity is a huge expense for most Canadian farms but not at Fritz and Paul Klaesi’s dairy near Cobden, Ont. The Klaesi brothers’ 140-cow dairy is one of the handful of Canadian farms that have an operational biogas electrical generation system that uses methane from manure pits to produce electricity. Their system, now operating for nearly three years, generates 400 cubic metres of methane gas and produces 750 kilowatts of electrical power daily, more than enough power to supply their farm’s needs and heat the brothers’ two houses.
“The system cost $280,000 to install with lots of the labour and design being done by us,” says Fritz Klaesi. “We built it entirely without government subsidies and if everything stays the same, it will pay for itself in 10 years. It was an excellent system and even though we have had problems with the engine and control systems, we would do it again. Biogas is the future.”
The Klaesi brothers, like most of the first Canadian farms generating electricity from manure, use a system imported from Europe where biogas generation is much more common. A handful of Canadian companies, like RENTEC Renewable Energy Technologies in Peterborough, Ont., Clear Green Technology in Saskatoon, Sask., and Bio Terre in St. Andrews, Man., now provide designed-in-Canada solutions.
The heart of all biogas generation systems is the biodigester. A biodigester looks like a standard liquid manure storage tank but has a balloon-like rubber membrane fastened to the top. Manure, crop residue or other biodegradable organic waste is fed into the digester. Methane gas, produced by the anaerobic decomposition and fermentation process, is trapped in the balloon. This then powers an internal combustion engine that drives an electrical generator.
Is a biogas system economically viable on your farm?
That very much depends on your farm and where it is located in Canada, says Nils Semmler with RENTEC. Energy is provincially regulated and the rules and regulations vary dramatically across Canada.
Alberta is currently the Canadian leader in biogas generation but strict new nutrient management regulations and high energy costs are sparking interest across the nation. Ontario has just implemented an 11 cent per kilowatt hour (kwh) pricing regimen (14 cent for peak usage) for green electricity which makes biogas a more attractive option for Ontario farmers.
“Electrical rates for biogas have to still increase before most producers would be willing to install one without a government subsidy,” Klaesi says. “Our numbers, developed with input from OMAFRA, showed that a plant operating for 8,000 hours a year, generating less than 500 kwh would need 17 cents/kwh. Bigger plants would need 13.3 cents. A small plant operating just 3,000 hours, that burnt primarily energy crops, would need to receive 21.5 cents/kwh to be profitable on its own.”
Ontario and Quebec are the only provinces that offer grants to build biogas systems. Quebec will pay up to 70 per cent of the cost of installing a manure handling facility (maximum of $200,000). Ontario producers can receive a grant of up to $60,000 for on-farm manure treatment and storage facilities.
Philip and Luanne Lynn are in the final construction phase on a plant that will produce both a megawatt of electricity and four million litres of ethanol at their 5,800-head feedlot near Lucan, Ont. They initially embraced the system to meet Ontario’s stringent nutrient management requirements.
“Ethanol was our initial priority because electricity rates were very low when we started,” Philip Lynn says. “Three years ago, electricity in Ontario was 3.8 cents plus a half cent for green energy. At 4.3 cents you could run a combustion engine until you were blue in the face but you would never pay for it. That’s why we got into ethanol. Now with electricity in Ontario at 11 cents around the clock and 14 cents at peak demand, these things are viable.”
The system, designed by RENTEC, collects all the barn manure and yard runoff in the biodigester which generates methane to run the power plant. The plant’s engine also generates the steam needed for ethanol production at no additional cost. The distillers’ grain produced by the ethanol production is fed back to the cattle, who process it back into manure to start the cycle again. Since the plant uses no fossil fuels, it will be the greenest ethanol plant in North America.
“A biogas system may make perfect sense for one 100-cow or 400-hog farm and no sense at all on another,” Semmler says. “The difference can be night and day depending on the existing farm setup. For example, if your feedstock is dependent on antibiotics, they will kill the microbes that perform the anaerobic digestion.”
A lot of background material and technical documents are posted at www.biogas.ca that can help you determine if biogas may be an option for your farm.
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