Dairy farm adding hydro production from manure

Athlone Farms Inc., the 600-acre dairy and crop farm owned by Brian and Wendy Anderson on Line 29, is in the process of constructing a biogas system that when fully operational will provide enough electricity to power 500 homes.

By burning methane produced from their farm manure and imported organic waste, the system promises to also reduce atmospheric methane, provide a better quality of crop nutrient and even supply clean bedding for the farm's dairy animals.

"If we have any smells, we're doing something wrong," said Brian Anderson during a recent tour of the construction site behind the farm's 140-cow barn.

To ensure neighbours know what's going on and what to expect from the installation, the Andersons invited them over for a meeting. With the biodigester supplier on hand, one of the things made clear was that the farm won't be a rendering plant.

It won't be dealing with that kind of material, said Anderson.

The Andersons applied to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) in 2010 after doing lots of study themselves on the system that's now being installed by PlanetET Biogas Solutions Inc.

The St. Catharines company is a joint venture with the German company PlanetET Biogastechnik that produces the equipment and has already done several installations in Canada.

The Andersons received approval to proceed a year ago and they are hoping to be producing power for Ontario's electricity grid by November.

Until we work out all the kinks we still don't know very much," said Anderson. "We'll know a lot more a year from now."

Apart from using the manure from the barn as a fuel source, the anaerobic digester will accept off-farm green waste that normally would go to landfills.

Anderson said that by collecting the methane from manure and green waste and burning it to produce electrical power the farm system will produce 25 times less atmospheric methane than would naturally be produced.

Under construction now on the farm is a receiving facility that will accept the off-farm waste. The material will be contained in covered storage prior to being mixed with manure in a nearby dome-covered biodigester that will be 70 feet (21 metres) in diameter and 20 feet (six metres) high.

A second digester of the same size will be added next year.

Another structure will squeeze out the residue solids for use as semi-sterile animal bedding or fertilizer.

The Andersons said they felt the information meeting with their neighbours went over well.

Our cows are our major source of income and we want to make sure we protect the farm - and the neighbours, Wendy Anderson said.

The project, she said, is really about diversifying the farm for the future. Their son Alex, 23, and their daughter Heather and her husband Dennis Peters, both 30, are all involved in the farm business.

Brian Anderson said it's been said that dairy farmers are the most suitable for operating biodigesters because they are accustomed to mixing rations for their cows and working 365 days of the year.

You have to have the right mix. The manure provides the bacteria and the (off-farm) carbohydrates provide the fuel source. We have to get that right to get the maximum amount of gas production."

The farm is expected to use a tonne or two of bio-fuel and up to five tonnes when the second digester is installed.

The Andersons have a 20-year contract with the OPA to supply power to the grid.

Contractors hauling bio-waste to the farm will be governed by their own regulations, but Anderson points out the farm has to have a nutrient management plan that incorporates the new development.

Nutrient management is something they are already used to on the farm, he said. Now it will include off-farm material as well.

Essentially it's the same system we're governed by now but more comprehensive."

Two or three additional trucks are expected to haul green waste (no post-consumer waste) to the farm each week.

As far as the Andersons know, their biodigester will be just the third in Perth County.