SUPPLY – CHAIN OPPORTUNITIES
Anaerobic Digestion Explained @Marches Biogas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJzjgC
to5FM
Rural Enterprise – On Farm Diversification
Opportunity
On Dairy farms the average Farm Business Income increased from £52,971 in
2010/11 to £58,124 in 2011/12, which is an increase of £5,153 per farm.
http://www.dardni.gov.uk/farm_incomes_in_northern_ireland_2011-13.pdf
Farming is typically asset rich cash poor and matching business diversification
opportunities with the existing skill set within the farm management team can
also sometimes be a challenge in terms of available free time and capital cost.
Increasing farming incomes are constrained by a range of factors -: size of land
holding, availability of con-acre, size of family engaged in the existing enterprise.
While 500kW AD Biogas projects are stand alone businesses in terms of size and
scale, requiring long term planning, crop management, harvesting and agronomy
skills as well as a supply of cattle slurry the income return is significant over the
life of the project.
The 100Kw plants are a direct bolt-on to existing Dairy farm enterprises with a
sufficient provision of cattle slurry (500 cow equivalent) the guaranteed annual
income from this size of AD plant is £40,000 per year - £600,000 for the life of the
project (15 years)
The AAE business model includes 100% capital expenditure costs including NIE
grid connection and associated charges.

AAE £27 Million Investment

10 500kW Anaerobic Digestion
Biogas Plants operatingor due to
be completed by April 2015
Introduction of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC’s)
Resulted in approximately 2000 Approved Northern Ireland
Planning Applications for “Renewable Energy” projects
between 2009 – 2013.
Less than 5% of these applications were for On Farm
Anaerobic Digestion Biogas Plants.
A sample (85) taken between 2010-13 of AD proposals
highlights a high % of successful applications were within
highland farm land areas where there is raised awareness
of Renewable Energy as a result of wind farms
proliferating.
Following the ROC’s !
County
L’DERRY
TYRONE
Projects
13
9
32
ANTRIM
18
FERMANAGH
7
DOWN
6
ARMAGH
9
Total
85
LONDONDERR
Y
TYRONE
13
6
ANTRIM
7
FERMANAGH
18
32
DOWN
ARMAGH
Anaerobic Digestion by-products include liquid &
biosolids with a 99% pathogen kill, this helps reduce
the cross contamination of livestock when applied to
grazing land.
Anaerobic Digestion bio-solids are plant ready so
they deliver available nutrients immediately and are
more cost effective than spreading slurry.
Future R&D will allow farmers the option to add
value to the bio-solid portion of the digestate and
sell this material to horticultural organisations
currently migrating from the http://www.dardni.gov.uk/tb-slurry-lit-review.pdf
use of peat and
experimenting with biomass materials.
Digestate Upgrading
The first step in upgrading is usually dewatering
of the digestate using a screw press or decanting
centrifuge.
This yields: a solid fraction, containing most of
the phosphates and organic dry matter (ODM);
And a liquid fraction containing most of the
nitrogen and potassium.
In Nitrate Vulnerable Zones we can remove the
NVZ stigma from the N Ireland & UK farmers.
Digestate Bio-solids
Pelletised
The Fluid Bed Dryer
Excess Heat
Utilisation
AD facilities produce
more heat than
required for their own
consumption.
There are a range of
options such as:
The Fluid Bed Dryer or
Where available Food
Dairy Production
Morocco is the
Saudi Arabia of
phosphate
North America dominates global potash
supply, and East Asian nitrogen.
But phosphate depends largely on one
country.
More than 75% of global phosphate
reserves are in Morocco, and the
disputed areas of the Western Sahara it
controls. Morocco also controls about a
third of seaborne trade.
Biogas Upgrading
Biogas can be upgraded to
Substitute Natural Gas (SNG)
quality. This can then be used
as vehicle fuel or mixed into an
existing grid. There are several
options for upgrading the
biogas.
Questions?