Grainswest - Winter 2023

Winter 2023 grainswest.com 29 Bio-En director of operations, she ran the Elmira plant, her family’s business, for a decade. Like the Perrys in ag biogas, they were pioneers in processing urban organic waste. Despite its relatively low energy content, said Martin, agricultural projects have great appeal where manure is plentiful. The addition of sources such as urban food waste boosts gas yield and economic viability. Lethbridge Biogas had made its money on a combination of tip fees paid by feedstock contributors and electricity production. Just over a year ago, its new owners also launched their own 20-year RNG supply agreement with FortisBC. “The [electricity] pool pricing is quite volatile,” said Martin. “It’s really difficult to do any sort of financial modelling or forecasting. That RNG contract really brought a degree of stability to the operation.” Though the plant now exchanges digestate for manure for free, this model may also evolve. “There’s quite a decent N-P-K value in this stuff,” said Martin. “We’re trying to figure out what the market will bear.” The mix of locally available feedstock determines the size and design of a given biogas facility. “We’re technology agnostic,” said Martin. “We design these facilities on an individual basis.” For example, if the main contributor is a feedlot with dirt pads, a process for grit removal may be necessary. “Design choices like that have a big impact on the long-term viability,” she said. Bio-En has developed a process it has dubbed “smarter organics management,” to separate difficult-to-remove plastic and other materials from feedstock. This allows it to access rich biogas sources that would otherwise be unusable and ramp up the use of new feedstock quickly. “There is not really a waste stream we’re scared of,” said Martin. Martin emphasized biogas plants produce truly green energy and the methane they capture is a very potent greenhouse gas. Their inherent sustainability has driven the rise of the sector. “Climate change is almost indisputably real, because insurance companies are starting to charge for it. They’ve seen a pinch on their bottom line and pass that cost down primarily to industry. Economic pressure to do better with carbon is going to strengthen our position within the marketplace.” SUPPORT SYSTEMS Targeted support has been critical to the biogas sector, but a patchwork of programs varies between provinces, said Canadian Biogas Association’s Green. “And that’s one of the challenges. How does one wade through to figure out which pathway to take?” In 2014, founder Chris Perry (left), brother Harold (right) and father Gerry built GrowTEC. The family's biodigestion business now partners with EverGen to supply renewable natural gas to FortisBC.