America Slowly Digests the Need for Biogas

In Minnesota, two state programs now encourage farmers to install methane digesters on their dairy farms.  But despite the governmental push, farmers are slow to pick up technology.

What makes the general public, or small business owners, slow to embrace anaerobic digestion?  For one, the start-up investment costs are too high for a small business owner.  And, for now, the rates for electricity offered by utility companies aren’t high enough to subsidize the original investment.

Can biogas replace natural gas in our U.S. systems?  This article says that, despite the exacting standards for pipeline national gas, it’s totally within our reach in terms of money and technology.  And in Europe, which saw a push for biogas this decade, biogas is a mature technology, not a risk.  As a transportation fuel, biogas works, and it replaces our dependence on oil.   It’s reliable, and it’s cheap.

“In the US concerns still exist about the production of biogas during the winter, costly dung collection arrangements, inadequate slurry handling systems and lack of outside financial help.”

On one side of the ocean, biogas works.  On this coast, it’s a concern.  Is the problem narrow-minded Americans who aren’t ready to accept biogas as a viable alternative energy solution? Another problem might be that, in the case of the Minnesota farmers, individual business owners can’t afford the investment on their own. Creating one large anaerobic digester that an entire region can utilize, like in the case of Harvest Power’s Fraser Richmond plant, might be a better answer.

Read the article here.