With the announcement of the government consultation on the National Biomethane Strategy, anaerobic digestion is firmly back in the headlines.
Many farmers think anaerobic digestion plants are just for the big guys – they are too big, too costly and too complicated to run.
You may have looked at anaerobic digestion in the past and decided that it was not for you, that your farm was not big enough, or that the technologies on offer were too technical and inaccessible to understand.
That may have been true in the past when experienced advisors were thin on the ground, but it is certainly not true now.
While it may be going too far to suggest that there has been a revolution in the anaerobic digestion industry, there has certainly been a shake up – scalable solutions have become much more common, more accepted and more cost effective.
That is not to say that picking the right solution for your farm is easy but with the right advice from experienced and knowledgeable advisers such as Carty Clean Energy, it is much more doable.
If you are still interested in anaerobic digestion and want to consider it in a more structured way, a good place to start is with a simple feasibility study, breaking down the process into bite sized chucks.
Planning
It is really important to scope out your project and seek professional help at an early stage. It may seem obvious but time spent planning is always time well spent.
Getting industry experts such as Carty Clean Energy on board early will significantly speed up the process and help you to analyse your options in a realistic and real time manner.
Starting with questions as simple as: What livestock is on your farm? What size is your farm?
Remember size does not matter as much as it used to, and anaerobic digestion projects can be successful on small scales, as well as big.
Get down to business
Similar to any new business venture, the business model of how your project will operate is something you will need to look at; and is something where getting good, timely advice is invaluable and will cut costs.
Carty Clean Energy bring a wealth of knowledge and contacts from within the planning, finance, technology and maintenance fields.
Getting advice, hearing case studies of how similar sized operations got finance or worked through planning issues or what technology they chose based on their size or manure type will all help you iron out problems before they arise.
What to feed your anaerobic digestor
As with everything in life, what you put in will have an effect on what you get out.
Anaerobic digestors are hungry, grumbly beasts and having ready access to high quality, consistent feedstocks is of the utmost importance.
Low quality materials or materials with too much grit or sand will upset the delicate balance where AD plants work best. Again this is where the expertise and experience of Carty Clean Energy can be put to use to benefit your project.
Having worked with various anaerobic digestor types, using a multitude of feedstuffs from organic food waste to cow, pig and chicken manure Carty Clean Energy have seen it all and are well-placed to assist.
Getting the technology right first time
There are many factors influencing the technology type that is right for every particular AD project, from manure type to climate to size and capacity.
It can all seem like foreign terrain littered with expensive and hard to correct landmines.
Thankfully there are no experts like Carty Clean Energy on hand to steer and advise, whether your project is micro or not so micro sized.
What’s left afterwards?
Luckily quite a lot. At the end of the process your Anaerobic Digestion plant will produce not just clean, valuable biomethane that can run everything from farm machinery to lorries to home heating or sold onto the grid as electricity, it will also produce valuable, saleable fertiliser.
Your farm, your community, your energy
Anaerobic digestion plants are good for everyone and communicating that message early and well within your local community.
Finally, climate change measures don’t have to hurt. Anaerobic digestion plants turn waste into clean energy and reduce odours and costs into the bargain.
Getting the right anaerobic digestion plant for your particular situation has not always been as straightforward as it seemed and there have been many failures in the industry, expensive failures where inexperienced developers chose the wrong technology or simply hadn’t the skills to implement the right solution properly.
Carty Clean Energy bring together to the table hands on experience and an in depth understanding of the grainy reality involved in getting projects off the ground.
They are not bound by the restrictions of any particular technology solution which gives them freedom and impartiality in assisting you to make the right choice for your anaerobic digestion project.
If you would like to explore the possibility of anaerobic digestion on your farm, please get in contact with Carty Clean Energy on 0719167788.
