Harnessing power from pig poop
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Methane, once just the enemy of the ozone layer, is now being used as a valuable source of green energy.
A recent story on KSL.com profiled Circle Four Farms, a 75,000-sow operation near Milford, Utah. They produce 3.2 megawatts of energy from their pig manure and sell it to the local municipality. It's enough to power 3,000 homes for a year.
To create the biogas necessary for electricity, pig manure is processed by an anaerobic digester and the resulting methane is burned to produce energy that can be used onsite or sold as a commodity.
Pig poop is a reliable energy source because, as any pig farmer knows, it's never in short supply and is available anytime, not just when the sun shines or the wind blows.
The Ottawa-based Biogas Association's website lists 34 member projects within Ontario, the majority of which are "agricultural biogas, which fit(s) seamlessly into many farming operations."
Their 2013 Canadian Biogas Study says agricultural biogas has the potential to generate 550 megawatts of electricity per year, which would satisfy 2.1 per cent of Canada's natural gas demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25.5 million tonnes (the equivalent of taking 5,100,000
cars off the road). BP