matttargett4
Member
Hi,
as a dairy farmer (500) I’m acutely aware of the need to look at be better all the time, ridiculously not really to do with the food we produce but more how we do it.
inevitably we produce quite a bit of waste, sh@t, reject feed, feed waste from silos etc, we also use a fair bit of electric, milk cooling etc and whilst I think we are probably in the top 25% for efficiency kWh in vs food out etc surely ad is an obvious fit?
so I’d like to understand the detail of the process as well as the economics, so starting at the beginning
I currently separate my slurry as part of a sand bedding separator, does the gas come from the dm portion or the liquid? Do I need to put the solids back in?
we get a beating for generating methane, if we put it through a digester does this reduce the methane emissions in long term storage?
when the gas is burnt it generates co2, what would have been the fate of this without digestion? Presumably it would be emitted as methane then broken down in the atmosphere? I need to be sure I’d be making a reduction not a substitution.
does ad reduce the Dm of the digestate vs the in feed?
what kind of retention time do I need for slurry only?
is any n,p or k carried in the biogas? Ie lost?
how are the economics of such a system now if I use all the heat and power myself and reduce inputs to pay capital and running costs?
thanksfor any input
matt
as a dairy farmer (500) I’m acutely aware of the need to look at be better all the time, ridiculously not really to do with the food we produce but more how we do it.
inevitably we produce quite a bit of waste, sh@t, reject feed, feed waste from silos etc, we also use a fair bit of electric, milk cooling etc and whilst I think we are probably in the top 25% for efficiency kWh in vs food out etc surely ad is an obvious fit?
so I’d like to understand the detail of the process as well as the economics, so starting at the beginning
I currently separate my slurry as part of a sand bedding separator, does the gas come from the dm portion or the liquid? Do I need to put the solids back in?
we get a beating for generating methane, if we put it through a digester does this reduce the methane emissions in long term storage?
when the gas is burnt it generates co2, what would have been the fate of this without digestion? Presumably it would be emitted as methane then broken down in the atmosphere? I need to be sure I’d be making a reduction not a substitution.
does ad reduce the Dm of the digestate vs the in feed?
what kind of retention time do I need for slurry only?
is any n,p or k carried in the biogas? Ie lost?
how are the economics of such a system now if I use all the heat and power myself and reduce inputs to pay capital and running costs?
thanksfor any input
matt