Grainswest - Winter 2023

THE 2023 SPRING ALBERTA SEED GUIDE IS NOW AVAILABLE! The 2023 Alberta-British Columbia Seed Growers AGM will be a hybrid event at the Holiday Inn, Edmonton South on February 2, 2023. Find out more at abcseedgrowers.ca WATCH FOR IT in your mailbox or find it online at seed.ab.ca can prove unexpectedly “hot,” and their richness overwhelms the bacteria. Like people, these micro-organisms require a well- rounded diet, said Jenson. Meat-and-potatoes is preferrable to living on chocolate cake. Like Green, Jenson praises biogas as a methane-emission reducing renewable energy source, but cautions production is complex and capital intensive. Since he joined the industry in 2001, biogas has developed in waves along with incentive programs. The latest are renewable natural gas pricing incentives and carbon offsets—the latter of which, dry manure notably does not fully qualify for. He said economies of scale can be created, but pricing can only go so low. The solar sector benefitted from increased production of ever-improved solar panels that drove costs down, but this is impossible for the pumps and tanks central to biogas production. FortisBC offers RNG pricing as high as $30 per gigajoule for RNG, he cited. A new project that has a production cost in the mid to high twenties may not prove lucrative as it might in the U.S. where various states have instituted layered carbon incentives. “When you compile them all together—I’ve heard numbers as high as US $70 for RNG—now, that makes a project,” said Jenson. His guiding principle for biogas entrepreneurs is simple. “Do your homework: understand your feedstock. Let the feedstock define your decision-making processes and dictate techniques and equipment.” THE TIME IS RIGHT While industry pioneers such as GrowTEC and Bio-En endured much trial and error, they offer encouragement to newcomers. “If you’re considering a biogas project, think about your inputs,” said Martin. “What else in the area could potentially be an input, what am I going to do with the gas and what am I going to do with the digestate? If you can answer those three questions, you’ve probably got a project on your hands.” “The time is right,” said Perry. “It was not when we did it. Now, the support mechanisms are there.” He advises interested parties thoroughly investigate environmental permitting, access to energy markets and utility grids and the availability of feedstock. He also suggests they contact industry consultants and successful biogas facility operators for input. Perry is confident Canada’s biogas sector can come to grips with market complexities. “It’s what Alberta and the West need as a story. It’s going to take a little money, but once it’s going, it will be a sustainable energy industry long-term.”