Value-Added Benefits from Biogas
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As discussed yesterday, a fully developed biogas industry could provide both renewable energy and reduced emissions of the GHG methane, two valuable assets for combating climate change. But the recent report, Biogas Opportunities Roadmap, also makes the case for biogas as an economic driver that can generate capital investments, jobs, and saleable products.
If, for example, 11,000 additional biogas facilities were built, the report says the result would be “an estimated $33 billion in capital deployment for construction activity which would result in approximately 275,000 short-term construction jobs and 18,000 permanent jobs to build and run the digesters.” These jobs would embrace a broad range of occupations, including engineering, construction, equipment vendors, and others needed to design, build, and maintain the systems.
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In addition to energy, the report notes that biogas systems can also produce value-added revenue streams, including:
- High-quality fertilizers created through nutrient recovery and management systems that are already available. These products are valuable for soil enhancement, are more readily absorbed and concentrated than manure, and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, which may provide a cost savings to farmers. In addition, use of the “digested” biogas soil amendments can reduce energy demand and handling costs associated with storage, mixing, pumping, and spreading of “undigested” organic materials.
- Production and sales of dry bedding for animals that is made from fibers separated from the biogas digester effluent stream. The report concedes this market is primarily local at this time, but speculates that “developing more reliable national markets would reduce time for system payback, making project financing more attractive.”
- Direct revenues from commercial tipping fees for communities and companies operating biogas production facilities designed for source-separated organics (SSOs) (e.g., organics like food wastes that are not allowed in landfills).
- Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for electricity generation or Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard for the generation and use of biogas as vehicle fuel offer potential revenue streams. Carbon emissions and nutrient offset credit markets, like those in California and the Chesapeake Bay watershed, also offer opportunities to offset regulatory compliance costs with voluntary installation of biogas systems.
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These very tangible benefits can help defray the financial aspects of developing and deploying biogas systems, but the report also provides a number of environmental benefits, in addition to reduced methane emissions. For example, since biogas systems digest organics using nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, proper management (i.e., recovery and recycling) of the nutrients can help keep them out of waterways and improve water quality. In addition, pathogen runoff associated with undigested manure can also be reduced as much as 99 percent through anaerobic digestion, as can odors that occur during manure storage and decomposition.
Even with all the potential benefits of biogas, however, the report also concedes “Anaerobic digestion systems do not reduce the total amount of nutrients in the system or eliminate all organic wastes,” and stresses the need for proper design and operation of biogas systems to “avoid creating new environmental problems.” For example, each system should be evaluated “holistically” to assess impacts from things like combustion equipment that may emit different pollutants, such as particulate matter, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other GHGs, as well as impacts created by incorrect application of products like fertilizers.
Looking to the future, the report also makes recommendations for developing the biogas industry, something it says “will take significant investment by livestock producers, municipalities, food producers, the private waste sector, and project developers.” Using an integrated approach to overcome barriers to growth, the report cites the following necessary “critical efforts”:
- Support from federal agencies, including modifications or expansions of programs that advance biogas systems;
- Greater private investment in biogas systems;
- Development of broader markets for biogas and biogas system products; and
- Increased emphasis on research and development to optimize systems.