WINNIPEG – A dairy operation near Winkler, Man., could be producing electricity next winter from manure.
Manitoba Hydro, the crown corporation that generates and distributes energy in the province, intends to build a biogas digester that will generate 50 kilowatts of electricity and heat from the manure of 200 cows at Sweetridge Farms.
The digester, which produces methane and carbon dioxide from manure, will be the first of its kind in Manitoba, said Jeremy Langner, a renewable energy specialist with Manitoba Hydro.
“There have been a few projects (digesters) that have been tried in the province, but most of the things that have been done to date are research projects,” Langner said following his presentation at the Canadian Society for Bio-Engineering annual meeting held in Winnipeg July 11-13.
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“I think our project is going to be the first commercial project that we’re hoping to run consistently.”
Langner didn’t disclose the cost to build the digester, which requires permits and regulatory approval before construction begins, likely later this year.
One of the objectives of the project is to demonstrate that anaerobic digesters are economically viable on Manitoba farms.
“We chose a dairy farm … mostly because there is a better track record with anaerobic digestion at dairy farms,” Langner said.
“But we’re really hoping to get the hog guys out to see what we’re doing…. In the province, that’s really the big market, the hog industry.”
Using manure to generate power is still a novel concept in Manitoba, but in Ontario it’s a full-fledged industry, said Jake DeBruyn, new technology engineer with the Ontario agriculture ministry.
The number of anaerobic digesters operating in Ontario has increased to 28 from one in 2005, said DeBruyn, who spoke at the conference.
Ontario has become one of the hottest markets in North America for anaerobic digesters.
Many of them have been built at dairy farms in Ontario, but greenhouses have also installed the technology and the Toronto Zoo plans to produce power from animal manure.
Some on-farm operations are producing less than 100 kW of energy from biogas, but companies such as Kawartha Biogas Inc. have big plans for anaerobic digesters.
The company intends to produce 10 milliwatts of energy from digesters to be constructed near Havelock, Ont.
The feedstock for the $45 million project will be dried distillers grain from ethanol production.
Ontario’s feed-in-tariff policy, which encourages renewable energy, makes renewable energy projects economically viable. Companies that generate power from renewable sources such as biogas are paid 14 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity they produce.
“As a society, if we want the farmer to invest one or two million dollars, there’s got to be a good reason to do it,” DeBruyn said.
Successful biodigesters require rates for renewable power that are higher than those paid to companies that produce electricity from coal, he added.
“We need to incent the long-term activity, not just the construction.”
DeBruyn has concerns about Manitoba Hydro’s model for digesters. The utility plans to help livestock producers with up-front costs, but it doesn’t want to pay more for electricity produced from biogas digesters.
“I think it’s much easier to do with a feed-in tariff,” he said.
“If you don’t have a feed-in-tariff, you need some other incentive. You can’t put manure in a tank, build the system, provide heat to it and not get something (dollars) out of it. We can’t expect farmers to undertake these extra activities … unless there is an incentive.”
Langner confirmed that a feed-in-tariff incentive isn’t part of Manitoba Hydro’s strategy for biogas digesters.
He said Ontario needs to provide financial incentives for renewable energy because it wants to free itself of coal-based power.
Almost all of Manitoba’s power comes from hydroelectric dams in northern and eastern parts of the province, so the utility isn’t interested in paying higher rates for other sources of renewable energy.
Instead, Manitoba Hydro views on-farm power generation as part of a larger effort to improve energy efficiency in the province.
“It’s the same reason we give (Manitobans) an incentive for changing out your light bulbs … (because) the energy that you save is energy that we’re freed up to export to the States.”
DeBruyn said that if Manitoba Hydro isn’t willing to pay more for electricity from biogas systems, it will need to convince the public and farmers that digesters provide environmental and social benefits,.
“It isn’t, today, looking to compete with conventional electricity. It is about (selling it as) a premium product and that is the only way we’re going to make it fly,” he said. “So there is a sales pitch that is required, to convince society that this is a worthwhile premium product.”
BIOGAS DIGESTER BASICS
•Anaerobic digestion is a process where organic material, such as manure, is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen within a heated and closed system. The digestion produces a mix of methane and carbon dioxide called biogas. The methane can be burned to generate electricity or heat, or concentrated for use as a natural gas replacement.
•The process also treats the manure, which means nutrients are more available for crops and destroys pathogens in the manure.
•Building a digester to produce electricity costs $6,700 to $10,000 per kilowatt. A 100 kW system would cost $670,000 to $1 million.
•Most farms in Ontario add off-farm food waste to the manure to generate more energy. Food waste, such as grease trap waste, starches from potatoes and waste from meat processing, contains more energy. A dairy herd with 100 cows produces enough manure to generate 25 to 30 kW of power. Adding 25 percent
off-farm material can triple electrical output.
Source: Ontario agriculture ministry
