Simple, cheap and proven technology already exists for converting the millions of litres of manure produced by Manitoba hog producers into a valuable source of energy and fertilizer.
So what’s holding the industry back?
“In my estimation it is a case of political will. The bureaucratic hill is just too high to climb,” said Phil Dorn of Samson Engineering in Brandon.
Methane gas produced by running hog manure through an anaerobic digester could be used to generate electricity, as well as solve the hog industry’s effluent disposal headaches. The industry’s manure has been targeted by the Manitoba government as a possible cause of phosphorus pollution in Lake Winnipeg.
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With the right incentives and the removal of policy obstacles, he said hog producers could funnel electricity into the provincial power grid, or use it on the farm to reduce the amount of power the farm has to draw from Manitoba Hydro.
“Manitoba could come on board and do what Ontario has done, which is pay 11 cents a kilowatt hour for energy produced by this system. But Manitoba Hydro doesn’t want to give you three cents. So what’s the point?”
Manitoba Hydro’s reluctance to promote biogas electricity production doesn’t make sense, he said.
“The best kind of battery is the water behind a dam. But they won’t let you use their system or they won’t make it viable.”
Samson Engineering is installing an anaerobic digester at Riverbend Colony near Carberry, Man., which operates a 1,500-sow isowean hog facility. Dorn said newer technology allows biogas systems to be built much more cheaply than in the past, when it would set a farm back $2-$3 million. His firm’s farm-scale model could be integrated into a typical existing operation for about $600,000.
“We’re trying to keep it simple. We’re putting together a manure management strategy that makes sense, is cost effective, and that addresses the environmental concerns that we all have, including the pork producers,” he said.
The secret lies in the reduced scale of the design, made possible by a reverse osmosis process that siphons off effluent liquid as clear, drinkable water. The recovered water, up to 75 percent of the total consumed by the farm, can then be reused by the hog operation.
With the total solids content of the manure increased to 10 percent, up from three percent, the more consistent flow improves the anaerobic digester’s function and allows a substantial size reduction, which in turn reduces construction and operating costs.
“This allows you to get away with a much smaller digester and manure storage facility,” he said. “We’re talking up to 75 percent smaller. It’s a massive reduction.”
Typically, manure flows from a hog barn into a gigantic manure storage tank, and later is spread on farm land. Current manure storage practice does nothing to solve environmental concerns and is expensive, he added. A typical 16-million-litre concrete manure storage facility costs around $500,000. To empty a tank of that size costs up to $40,000 a year.
“What have you done? You’ve just stored your problem, and it’s a large one. You’ve got solids, odours, pathogens and nutrients in there and you’ve spent $500,000,” Dorn said. “Is there a better way?”
In Samson Engineering’s system, effluent from the barn is sent to an anaerobic digester where the raw hog manure is broken down by bacteria into pathogen-free fertilizer.
Besides opening up the possibility to gain points under the Kyoto Accord, the problem of excess nutrients such as phosphorus could be eliminated, he said.
“You’ve solved your odour problem, your solids problem, nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus and pathogens,” he said. “Plus, you produce copious amounts of methane gas which you can use to heat your facility and produce electricity.”
