IADAB News - Edition 18 - Anaerobic Digesters for the Queen, Poultry Litter, with Ozone and as Fertiliser

Date: 13 March 2018: This is Issue 18 of the IADAB News Weekly, where we summarise the news of the week in the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Industry.

A brief summary roundup of the week's news follows:

First we feature an article which has provoked social media attention in the last week, which says that the installation of Anaerobic Digestion is gaining popularity and the development momentum is positive.

Second, there is the announcement from Buckingham Palace of plans for an Anaerobic Digester Fit for a Queen!

Thirdly, it seems that using anaerobic digestate as a fertiliser can save farmers £110/ha on bagged fertiliser/ annum. It is possibly only for the experts to do it just yet, because they say that getting it wrong will not only bring the risk of being on the wrong side of the law, but it can also have adverse affects on soil and the environment.

Fourth, Stream BioEnergy announce that the World’s first poultry litter anaerobic digester is up and running. Can it really be the very first in the world?

Fifth, Air products and Chemicals Inc. is patenting its methods for using ozone to enhance anaerobic digestion. It seems a reasonable bet that ozone can be used as a method to pre-treat digester feedstocks for quicker and more complete biogas production.

Finally, in our sixth item, a new US report is available on Global Anaerobic Digesters Market Demand, Trends, Opportunities and Forecast Report 2018.

Alright, let’s get started with the detailed articles… (Scroll down for each extract and use the links to the full articles on each of the individual websites.)

Please comment below: Did you like the new format and the cartoons or not? Please tell us your opinion by commenting below.

1 - Anaerobic Digestion Gaining Popularity and Development Momentum

Converting waste into energy with the help of anaerobic digestion is a fast-growing trend spreading across industries and countries throughout the world.

As the technology improves and the process gains acceptance, announcements of new projects are becoming quite commonplace.

That’s great news for the environment, and the team at American Organic Energy is thrilled to be part of this innovative and important movement.

2 - An Anaerobic Digester Fit for a Queen?

It’s true. The Royal Family in London, England recently jumped on board the trend, too, announcing several energy efficient initiatives. In addition to installing solar panels and ground source heat pumps, Buckingham Palace is looking to construct an anaerobic digestion unit to generate fuel from its organic waste.

According to its estimates, these efforts “would reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 554 tons a year.”

It’s hard to top an announcement like this from one of the most prominent figures on Earth, but the Queen isn’t the only one throwing her hat—eh, crown—into the ring. via A D Gaining Popularity

3 - Tips on using anaerobic digestate as a fertiliser

Using anaerobic digestate to feed arable crops can save farmers up to £110/ha on bagged fertiliser costs. However, there are many rules on its application in the UK.

Getting it wrong will not only bring the risk of being on the wrong side of the law, but it can also have adverse affects on soil and the environment, such as reduced earthworm numbers when applied at too high a rate.

Farmers Weekly gets some advice from an independent expert on how to reap the benefits, the right way... via TipsFarmersWeekly

4 - World’s first poultry litter anaerobic digester up and running

What is thought to be the world’s first anaerobic digestion (AD) plant using only poultry litter as feedstock is up and running in Northern Ireland.

Located at Tully near Ballymena, Stream BioEnergy and its partners received the go-ahead for the plant in June of 2016. The facility first went into production in 2017. via PoultrylitterAD

5 - New Patent Air products and Chemicals Inc. - Methods For Using Ozone To Enhance Anaerobic Digestion

Ozone (O₃) is a powerful disinfectant with many industrial and commercial applications. For example, ozone is used to oxidize organic contaminants from drinking water, including the naturally occurring taste- and odor-causing compounds. ...

It has been found that ozone may also be used to enhance anaerobic digestion by converting difficult to biodegrade compounds into more easily biodegradable compounds. Ozone may be used in this way to enhance biogas production from anaerobic digestion. For anaerobic digestion of sludge, it is theorized that the ozone lyses the cell membranes, thereby exposing the more easily biodegradable cytoplasm of the bacteria.

Fermentation waste, often called vinasse, can contain compounds such as phenols that are toxic to the anaerobic bacteria and other larger carbon-based compounds that are recalcitrant.

Pretreating this feed with ozone will reduce or eliminate the toxic compounds and make the larger compounds more biodegradable, thereby reducing the required residence time in the digester.

In an anaerobic digestion process, it is undesirable to have excess oxygen present because the oxygen reduces the methane (CH₄) yield by promoting aerobic digestion.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method of recovering un-reacted oxygen from an ozone-generation process so that the effluent may be efficiently used for an anaerobic digestion process, while maintaining high efficiency in the ozone-generation system. via Ozone-FreePatentsOnline

6 - Global Anaerobic Digesters Market Demand, Trends, Opportunities and Forecast Report 2018 

Albany, US, 2018-Mar-08 — An up-to-date research report has been disclosed by Market Research Hub highlighting the title “Global AD Market Report 2018” which provides an outlook of current market growth as well as the expected forecast including Rate on Investment (ROI) together with growing CAGR.

This report studies the Anaerobic Digesters market status and outlook of global and United States, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and United States market, and splits the Anaerobic Digesters market by product type and application/end industries. via GlobalAnaerobic Digesters Market Demand, Trends, Opportunities and Forecast Report 2018

Attribution: Buckingham Palace Picture. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69391

Latest News in the Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Manure

In order to pick up the skills needed to take the plunge and invest in anaerobic digestion technology on any farm a degree in the subject is not essential, but having one and being fresh out of college clearly helps, as in our first news item, which follows:

(Image by Michael J. Linden via Flickr.)

Armed with a master’s degree in animal science, Vanderkooi opened the 80-acre farm near Abbotsford, British Columbia, in June of 2010. He has since established himself as a pioneer among small-scale, sustainable farm owners.
An anaerobic digester is one of the key technologies that Vanderkooi uses in his quest to reduce his farm’s ecological footprint. This machine turns the methane gas released from cow manure into electricity. About 65 percent of cow manure is composed of methane, making it an abundant energy resource. Over the course of a year, Bakerview EcoDairy is able to offset a third of the energy needed to operate the farm, thanks to the digester and a small herd of 50 cows.

ᔥHarnessing The Hidden Power of Cow Manure | QUEST
The anaerobic digestion of dairy manure was in the news again when we are told that "manure makes heat", but not initially by anaerobic digestion. Here is a novel idea for gaining heat from a compsting pile, and we cite the following in order to explain:

The pile consists of layers of cow manure and hay embedded with temperature probes, Crockenberg said. It is also negatively aerated, meaning that it draws in air through the pile into the greenhouse, he said.
The goal of the pile is to provide CO2 and heat to tomatoes growing inside the greenhouse. This would mean that no fossil fuels would be needed to heat the house in the winter.
But the energy has to come from somewhere. That is where the manure comes in.
By providing the organic material for the microbes to feast on, the cow manure is the source of heat and nutrients for the plants.
“The pile takes in manure and other organic wastes as an energy source,” Cooke said. “It kills two birds with one stone. The farmers can dispose of manure and heat the greenhouse.”

Later, however, we are told that this is only part of the project which will include:

"...anaerobic digestion, solar powered technology, aquaponic fish and vegetable production, gourmet mushrooms, a restaurant, nano-brewery and access to the future skate park and marina, a May Cynic article stated."

ᔥManure makes heat - Vermont Cynic

Clearly, there is plenty of news about projects involving the anaerobic digestion of dairy manure currently in the US. More snippets are:

A 10-year effort has come to fruition for a local business. On Monday, A1 Organics in Eaton — the region’s largest commercial composting and organic recycling company — announced it had entered an agreement, worth tens of millions of dollars, with a renewable energy business to develop what could be the largest anaerobic digester project in the U.S. The anaerobic digestion system will convert organic feedstock, or substrate, and dairy cow manure into raw biogas. That raw biogas will be processed into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas, and then be supplied to a municipality.

ᔥEaton business developing state's first anaerobic digester to convert manure ... - Greeley Tribune

Dane County’s first manure digester, which began operation in 2011, is located in rural Dane at 6321 Cuba Valley Road — that’s in the town of Vienna just north of Waunakee.
It serves three farms and is estimated to produce about 16 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power approximately 2,500 homes.
A second digester, which is scheduled to be completed later this year, is located just west of the corner of Church Road and Schneider Road in the town of Springfield, west of Middleton. It also serves three farms and is expected to produce the same amount of electricity.
County Executive Joe Parisi’s 2014 budget includes a couple of additional items for the Springfield digester. It will include a system that removes 100 percent of the phosphorus, which is responsible for causing algae growth in the Yahara chain of lakes.
It also will include a drop-off facility for other farmers to bring loads of manure as an alternative to spreading during poor runoff conditions.

ᔥJust Ask Us: Where are Dane County's manure digesters located? - 77Square.com