Say the word biodigester, and the first thought that comes to mind is livestock. More specifically, it’s livestock manure. Biodigesters have a great fit for turning manure into renewable heat or electical energy.
But it doesn’t stop there. Biodigesters also have the potential to extract high-cost energy form other low-cost inputs, such as some crop residues, a wide range of biodegradable garbage streams, and even slaughterhouse waste.
Plus, there are fertilizer outputs with multiple benefits for crops and also for soil quality.
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When you see those positives, and when you also see that farmers and industry in parts of Europe have already got a long track record with the technology, the obvious question is: Why aren’t we building more biodigesters here?
That’s the question a group of Ontario beef producers asked in 2006, and their answer is still valuable.
Their European tour, organized by the Ontario Large Herd Operators, was targeted at studying the European anaerobic digestion experience. It included farmers, representatives of the Ontario Power Authority, Hydro One and other stakeholders.
If you’re interested in biodigesters, it’s worth your time to read their report at http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/biogas/index. html.
In their report, the Ontario researchers posed this question: “The European farms visited were similar in many ways to what the producers had at home. So why don’t we have a proliferation of biogas plants here in Ontario?”
At that time, they pointed to two main European advantages:
1. Governments at that time had said they were committed to electricity prices that reflect the cost of producing renewable power from different technology systems (biogas, wind, etc), and specifically for biogas systems using different inputs (manure, energy crops, food-based inputs), and with different scales (higher prices for smaller systems).
2. Guaranteed access to the electricity grid with few restrictions or fees
Clearly, regulatory arrangements in Europe and other countries set their biogas sector up for greater practicality and success. Some European farmers received almost double the price for their surplus electricity than farmers can get here, although they have still had to carefully negotiate their way through complex questions of scale, location and other cost factors for marketing the heat generated from anaerobic digesters.
In Canada, long-term planning is vital. Constructing and managing a biodigester can be capital intensive. There are various subsidies across Canada. In Ontario there is the Ontario Biogas System Financial Assistance Program, consisting of $11.2 million to help farmers and agri-business develop biogas systems. According to the Ontario agriculture ministry, there are two phases to the funding.
Phase 1 funding will cover up to 70 per cent of the eligible costs of carrying out a feasibility study, to a maximum of $35,000.
Phase 2 funding will cover up to 40 per cent of eligible construction and implementation costs. The maximum total feasibility and construction cost funding is $400,000 for each anaerobic digester system.
