Abstract
Although cow manure is a valuable natural fertilizer, it is also a source of extreme greenhouse gas emissions, mainly methane. For this reason, this study aims to determine the impact of investments in a biogas plant on the energy and economic aspects of the operation of a dairy farm. A farm with a breeding size of 600 livestock units (LSU) was adopted for the analysis. In order to reach the paper’s aim, the analysis of two different scenarios of dairy farm functioning (conventional–only milk production, and modern–with biogas plant exploitation) was conducted. The analysis showed that the investment in biogas plant operations at a dairy farm and in using cow manure as one of the main substrates is a more profitable scenario compared to traditional dairy farming. Taking into account the actual Polish subsidies for electricity produced by small biogas plants, the scenario with a functioning biogas plant with a capacity of 500 kW brings €332,000/a more profit compared to the conventional scenario, even when taking into account additional costs, including the purchase of straw to ensure a continuous operation of the installation. Besides, in the traditional scenario, building a biogas plant allows for an almost complete reduction of greenhouse gas emissions during manure storage.
Highlights
The analyzed farm has over 1000 ha of planted area and a herd of 600 dairy cows (breeding size of 600 livestock units (LSU)), which produce milk at a high level of 11,000 L/LSU/a
The paper describes an energetic and economic analysis of a dairy farm and small biogas plant coupling in order to increase farm profitability and decrease the uncontrolled methane emission from manure stored in heaps
Some doubts may relate to the term “small” biogas plant, as in the described farm the planned installation has 500 kW of electric power and cannot be sufficiently fed with manure produced from 600 cows
Summary
Almost 59% of the world’s emissions of this gas are of anthropogenic origin, of which the largest share (40–53%) is agriculture, especially intensive production [2]. In the EU, the share of agriculture in anthropogenic methane emissions is 53%, 26% is methane from waste, and 19% comes from energy production [3]. The reduction of methane emissions slows down negative climate changes and improves air quality [4]. Most of the legal acts concerning climate policy pay mostly attention to limiting carbon dioxide emissions. More and more attention is paid to the reduction of methane emissions [5]. The European Green Deal Communication emphasizes that reducing methane emissions related to the energy sector is one of the goals in achieving climate
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