Turning waste into energy on eastern Ontario farms

March 31, 2010 – CH-Four Biogas Inc. & MWM are behind three new anaerobic digesters at three farms in eastern Ontario.  One is already producing gas, with the othersto be operational by mid-summer.

Petrocorn Inc. is a large crop and hog farm near Plantagenet owned by Philippe Henrard. Kirchmeier Farms is a dairy operation in St. Isidore owned by Thomas Kirchmeier. Maryland Farms, a dairy farm in Lindsay, is owned by Jim and Phil Callaghan. Each farmer received $400,000 of funding through the Ontario Government’s Ontario Biogas System Financial Assistance Program.When construction is completed on  the farms, each will have a 1500-m³ CH-Four Biogas anaerobic digester and a 500-kW MWM co-generation unit. Together, the three farms will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1,500 homes.

“The digesters are ‘completely mixed continuous or semi-continuous flow, with addition of materials several times a day,” says Benjamin Strehler, vice president at Ottawa-based CH-Four Biogas. “All accept organic waste, agricultural waste, and manure, with on-farm manure making up about 55 per cent of the feedstock.”

Digesters at each farm will use all types of food processing waste and manure. Kirchmeier Farms will use a neighbouring farm’s manure as well as their own. In terms of agricultural waste being used in the digesters, Strehler says Petrocorn will process agricultural residues from their potato, corn and soy production.

Strehler notes  the food waste will consist of all types of organic material,  not just grease trap materials. “It will mostly be delivered from Concord, Ontairo-based Planet Earth Recycling,” he says.  This will result in the potential annual diversion of 30,000 tons of organic waste from landfills. Planet Earth services all areas of the food industry, from supermarkets and restaurants to nursing homes and food processing plants.
Strehler says that all the solid byproducts from the digesters will be spread on the farms where they are located. “Digesters reduce pathogen and odour levels in manure and waste by up to 99 per cent,” he notes. “They also capture and destroy greenhouse gases, recycle nutrients so they can be used for crop growth, and off-set the use of synthetic fertilizers – all while producing renewable energy."