Agricultural anaerobic digestion power plants in Ireland and Germany: policy and practice

Abstract

The process of anaerobic digestion (AD) is valued as a carbon-neutral energy source, while simultaneously treating organic waste, making it safer for disposal or use as a fertilizer on agricultural land. The AD process in many European nations, such as This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/jsfa.8005This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Accepted ArticleGermany, has grown from use of small, localized digesters to the operation of large-scale treatment facilities, which contribute significantly to national renewable energy quotas.However, these large AD plants are costly to run and demand intensive farming of energy crops for feedstock. Current policy in Germany has transitioned to support funding for smaller digesters, while also limiting the use of energy crops. AD within Ireland, as a new technology, is affected by ambiguous governmental policies concerning waste and energy. A clear governmental strategy supporting on-site AD processing of agricultural waste will significantly reduce Ireland's carbon footprint, improve the safety and bioavailability of agricultural waste, and provide an indigenous renewable energy source.

Economic and Environmental Analysis of Small-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Plants on Irish Dairy Farms

“…Figure 3 correlates with similar studies [48], seeing a reduction in capital costs as the capacity of the plant increased. The published data available on the running of Irish farm-scale AD plants are quite limited, mainly due to the relatively low number of plants in operation [16]. Considering these limitations, this study puts forward a list of annual expenditures to provide an appropriate representation of the Irish context.…”

“…The scheme provides a tariff of 2.95 c€ kWh −1 for a period of 15 years for AD plants producing less than 300 MWh yr −1 [75]. Accounting for the cost The published data available on the running of Irish farm-scale AD plants are quite limited, mainly due to the relatively low number of plants in operation [16]. Considering these limitations, this study puts forward a list of annual expenditures to provide an appropriate representation of the Irish context.…”

“…Furthermore, the technology has received considerable research attention, advancing its potential capability through optimisation strategies [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Despite the apparent benefits, Ireland has been slow to adopt the technology, ranking 20th in AD penetration among the EU-28 countries [15][16][17]. A contributing factor to the low deployment is the concentration of "large scale plants", particularly in Europe, where the siting of such centralised facilities has been based on the availability of significant quantities of biomass feedstock [18].…”

Toward Assessing Farm-Based Anaerobic Digestate Public Health Risks: Comparative Investigation With Slurry, Effect of Pasteurization Treatments, and Use of Miniature Bioreactors as Proxies for Pathogen Spiking Trials

“…In order to determine feedstock composition and operating conditions, a characterization of current Irish AD facilities was carried out. All Irish farm-based AD plants currently operate at mesophilic temperatures and process slurry co-digested with food production waste, including FOG (Auer et al, 2016). By visiting these AD facilities and utilizing knowledge gained in Auer et al, the following operation conditions and feedstock composition were determined.…”

A Small Study of Bacterial Contamination of Anaerobic Digestion Materials and Survival in Different Feed Stocks

“…Farm based AD plants in Ireland currently operate at mesophilic temperatures and typically co-digest animal slurry with food waste [ 10 ]. Data on bacterial contamination and survival during the different stages of the AD process is limited.…”