Grainswest - Winter 2023

Winter 2023 Grains West 28 biogas and RNG into their business model, it’s a natural next step,” said Green. She cautions biogas operations are not for everyone, given the complexity of the systems involved and the steep learning curve. “It is a living, breathing animal. All the tools the farmer brings to the table with their electrical, mechanical and biological education are integrated in these systems.” BIOGAS PIONEERS The Perry family grows grain, potatoes and other vegetables on their 5,000- acre farm near the village of Chin. Chris, Harold and their father Gerry built an on-farm biodigester in 2014 that relied upon the farm’s own culled potatoes as its main feedstock. While his father and brother now handle agronomics, Chris is founder of GrowTEC, the family’s biodigestion business. It remains one of just a few in the province. “In Alberta, in Canada, biogas has a great role to play in energy infrastructure,” said Perry. Interest in Canadian biogas production has recently picked up, too. The Royal Bank of Canada, BCG Centre for Canada’s Future and the Arrell Food Institute prepared a report on sustainable food production for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in November of 2022. It calls for government to support the ag sector in the implementation of new technology with the development of infrastructure, systems and national verification standards. Among these technologies is biogas production. Until now, the Perry biogas plant produced methane used to produce electricity and to heat farm buildings. Over the years, the scope of the project expanded as the facility accepted a mix of farm and food waste from the surrounding area. The Natural Resources Conservation Board mandates farm-based digesters use a minimum of 50 per cent livestock manure as feedstock. GrowTEC typically uses 60 to 70 per cent manure by weight as well as potatoes, food processor waste and grain screenings. The process guarantees weed seeds are rendered non-viable. The same goes for grain contaminated with ergot and other diseases. In July of 2022, EverGen Infrastructure purchased a 67 per cent stake in GrowTEC. EverGen is an RNG developer that owns and operates four Canadian facilities from B.C. to Ontario. The partners are now upgrading the GrowTEC plant to produce RNG. Whereas biogas is composed of 60 per cent methane on average, RNG contains 99 per cent. This will be fed into the FortisBC pipeline network as part of a 20-year offtake agreement. An energy utility company, FortisBC will convert 15 per cent of its gas supply at minimum to such carbon neutral sources by 2030. When GrowTEC’s two planned expansions are complete, the project will supply 140,000 gigajoules of RNG annually. This contains enough energy to equal the yearly electrical needs of approximately 2,800 homes. And this is just one single digester on one farm. Perry was convinced to market energy beyond the farm while attending a Canadian Biogas Association conference a couple of years ago. There, an official from the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark spoke about that country’s biogas industry, which forms a hub-and-spoke business structure with biogas facilities supplied by regional farm and agri-food operations. The approach rang true for Perry, and the EverGen partnership proved the means to implement it. Though the plant initially produced electricity, the biogas market evolved to favour RNG production. “We just never saw the support mechanism come in the electricity market that was coming down the pipe in the renewable natural gas market,” said Perry. The initiative also mitigated some risk for the family who can now provide input on the agricultural side of the business while EverGen handles day-to-day gas production. Industry growth is now driven by increased focus on getting renewable energy in the gas grid, said Chase Edgelow, EverGen CEO. “The biogas potential of agricultural and food waste has been overlooked in Canada. What’s changed the dynamic is demand from consumers for more green energy.” Whereas the electrical grid has a large renewable component, this is not yet so for the gas market. “We’re just starting to see the increased focus result in more and more RNG projects in Canada.” The sector has moved in the Danish direction. “Biogas needs to be a distributed model; a lot of smaller players are much better than one big one,” said Perry. GrowTEC handles relationships with local feedstock suppliers and creates a unique contract with each manure supplier, some of which may take digestate. Much of the GrowTEC digestate is applied to the Perry family’s own land. EverGen provides infrastructure access and manages the relationship with FortisBC. As Canadian biogas production has grown, the feedstock market has become more competitive, said Perry. “Because EverGen has four facilities now and hopes to grow, they can create relationships with bigger waste haulers and bigger agricultural producers across the country that will hopefully add value those facilities. “The biggest challenge with the waste is there is lots of availability but there is a contamination problem,” he added. Much potential feedstock contains plastic, dirt, rocks and other materials. Similarly, curbside organic material contains much plastic. Such “dirty” feedstock requires pre- processing to be useable. The problem must be solved, but progress is slow, said Perry. Skyline Clean Energy partners with Bio-En Services and Technology, which designs, owns and operates biogas facilities. These include a biogas plant in Elmira, ON, and Lethbridge Biogas, which the partnership purchased in June 2022. They also aim to construct a new Alberta facility to process municipal organics, said Deanna Martin. FEATURE