Cost Assessment of Centralizing Swine Manure and Corn Stover Co-Digestion Systems

Gabrielle M. Myers (), Daniel S. Andersen, Bobby J. Martens and D. Raj Raman
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Gabrielle M. Myers: Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Daniel S. Andersen: Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Bobby J. Martens: Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
D. Raj Raman: Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: Livestock in the state of Iowa, United States (US) produce over 50 × 10 6 Mg of wet-basis manure yearly. Biogas production from manure’s anaerobic digestion (AD) can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, control odors, and provide renewable energy. Despite these benefits, AD is rarely deployed at swine farms in Iowa. In this work, we explore the economics of AD systems in Iowa to evaluate reasons for low deployment and explore the production cost impacts of biogas cleaning and injection into the natural gas grid, amending manure with biomass, and centralizing digesters across multiple farms. This work presents a static, spreadsheet-based technoeconomic model that embodies literature-based estimates of key system technical parameters, costs, and transportation fuel incentives and permits the examination of various scenarios. Key findings include that under the model assumptions, distributed, farm-scale digesters are not competitive with average natural gas prices in Iowa. A centralized production scenario can be competitive, provided that programs such as the low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) and the renewable fuel standard (RFS) have sufficiently high credit values.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; bioenergy; carbon credits; manure; renewable fuels; swine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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