of the industry and rural job growth installing and managing these systems. There are some special advantages for dairies in remote areas who face frequent challenges. For example, a small 80-cow dairy in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico was cited as being an excellent candidate for a small biogas system as they han- dled manure in an area faced with flooding, hurricanes and electrical shortages. This would not only reduce the high risk of manure lagoon spills and floods, but it could also offer self-sufficient clean energy.


Solutions and challenges Geography and industry structure pose some unique challenges to the proliferation of the biogas industry and opportunities in North America. “That has to do with the natural limitations of the industry and basic economics. Since the biogas industry is dependent on the organic waste that it uses as a feedstock,” Serfass explains, “biogas projects tend to be located where there is organic material. Organic waste is very wet and heavy, and therefore expensive to move.” However, he adds this has opened doors for collaboration be- tween groups of farmers and food processors in the US. This includes small farms coming together to utilise a communal digester and working with dairy processors to recycle their wastewater in a farm-based digester instead of paying to discharge their waste into the sewer. Programs like the EPA’s AgSTAR help give farmers the tools they need to participate. Serfass also says policies, such as the national Renewable Fuel Standard and state-based low carbon fuel standards, allow farmers to benefit even more because they can generate credits for their renewable energy production which can create new revenue streams. The Canadian Biogas Association has also launched a cam- paign, Farming Biogas, which helps connect farmers with information and resources to implement their own systems. Green says that the shift of interest in biogas across the coun- try has been noticeable with more demand for renewable natural gas especially in regions such as British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec to incorporate that energy to the mainstream grid network. “Definitely within the farming community,” she says, “there has been more incremental opportunities for growth over the last decade.” Mexico is not too far behind in developing more solutions. According to one study, biogas has the highest development potential of any biofuel in the nation but ongoing support and incentives are needed to bring it to dairy farmers. The efforts are ongoing, but the opportunity is real. Time and again, dairy producers have shared their success stories using biogas systems to transform how they farm. In the future, energy production could be a mainstay of the industry.


▶ DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 8, No. 2, 2021 35


PHOTO: MARK PASVEER


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