Biogas model

Program v. 1

Name and address

Country
Street
City
ZIP-code
Company name
VAT no.
Contact person
Mail address
Phone no.


Welcome to this preliminary version of the calculation program for biogas production.

The program is under development and will be continuously updated.

In this preliminary version, it is necessary that you know about the biomasses that are available for biogas production so that an expected biogas production can be calculated.

Additional facilities will be added to the program subsequently.

You are welcome to fill in information about the company and yourself, but it is not necessary for the actual calculation in this preliminary version.

Farm description

Number of farms for the holding Number
Distance between farms km
The total area of the farms Hectares
Type and number of animals
Animaltype
Number of animals
Area for spreading the digestate Hectares
Water consumption m3/year
Volume of facilities to store manure m3
Electrical power consumption on farm kWh/year
Heat consumption on farm kWh/year
Distance to existing biogasplant km
Distance to gas network km


In this section, we would like to have basic information about your farm so that we can form an impression of it.

A holding can consist of several farms. If the holding consists of more than one farm, we would like to know how big these are and how far apart they are. This may have implications for later calculations of costs for transport and logistics.

Under "Type and number of animals", several different ones can be selected. These will be used in a later version to estimate the quantities of livestock manure that these give rise to, depending on which country you are in.

Information about the area, water consumption, electricity and heat consumption will later be used to assess whether it is appropriate to establish biogas production for the farm.

If there are existing biogas plants nearby or the possibility of connecting to another outlet for the biogas, this is important to know.

Biomass

Method 1:
Animaltype
Number of animals
Method 2:
Biomass category
Biomass type
TS (%)
VS/TS (%):
Sp. meth. pot. (Nm3/kgVS):
Amount (ton/year)


In this section, it is specified which biomasses are available for biogas production.

It is important to choose these biomasses, as it is these choices which (in this version of the program) are the calculation basis for the biogas production. It is possible to choose between four different categories of biomass. When you have chosen the categori, options appear in the box with biomass types.

When you have chosen a biomass type, some default values for the dry matter content and for the organic part of the dry matter appear in the boxes below. If you have more precise information for the biomass in question, you can enter these instead of the default values.

You have to select all the biomasses that are available and add them one at a time either from Method 1 or Method 2. Using Method 1, biomass is added based on an anount of specific animals whereas Method 2 adds biomass based on an amount of actual biomass. If biomass have been added using Method 1 please do not add the same biomass type using Method 2.

The program adds all the biomasses together and calculates the expected gas production based on these.

Results

Biomass treated total tons
Methane production Nm3/year
Methane content in gas %
Biogas production Nm3/year
Biogasprod. pr. ton biomass Nm3/tons
Plant size power kW
Plant size heat kW
Investment (1000) €
Total cost pr. year €
Total income pr. year €


Under results, you can see a tally of the mass of the entered biomasses, the expected biogas production and the methane content in the gas.

Recommendations

Under recommendations, an initial recommendation is given which depends on calculations of the expected biogas production based on the biomasses entered.

Environment

The production of biogas is a good idea for society in general, but also for the individual farmer, because:

  • It produces renewable energy
  • The farmer gets a better fertilizer from livestock manure
  • Odor nuisances are limited
  • The environment is saved from emissions of greenhouse gases
  • The environment is saved from discharges of nutrients
  • Organic waste is utilized and contributes to recycling

The physical and chemical change that occurs with the slurry in the biogas reactor gives a changed fertilizer effect in the field. The most significant change is the increase in the content of plant-available ammonium nitrogen. This is an advantage, as it is primarily the ammonium nitrogen that the plants can utilize. By using the degassed biomass as fertilizer, there is therefore the possibility of a higher harvest yield and a saving on the purchase of nitrogen in commercial fertilizer.

The thin and easy-flowing degassed slurry penetrates the soil relatively quickly. It helps to reduce the risk of ammonia evaporation.

When slurry is degassed, a number of substances which are always in the slurry are broken down. When using degassed slurry, the odor nuisance that may be associated with the application is reduced.

The risk of infection is reduced by processing the livestock manure in a biogas plant. The relatively long residence time at high heat reduces any infectious germs in the biogas reactor. If necessary, sanitization can be established at the biogas plant.

Society

In connection with the establishment of biogas plants, increased employment is typically created in an area. Especially in the establishment phase, local craftsmen can benefit. After establishment, an effort must be made in connection with operation and maintenance of the facility.

The local community can be proud of contributing to the solution of society-created climate and environmental problems and at the same time contributing to the production of local renewable energy.

In biogas plants, significant volumes of residues from agriculture, households and industry are digested, ensuring the recycling and reuse of the content of nutrients as fertilizer. With an intelligent use of biogas, these can be used to ensure the recirculation of phosphorus, which is a limited resource.

Biogas production has the potential to make a substantial contribution towards EU climate target for 2030.

The net climate impact of biogas exceeds the CO2savings from substituting fossil fuels.

Not only does biogas substitute fossil fuels, but it also reduces the carbon footprint from methane emissions during agricultural manure storage. However, biogas production also has a climate impact in the form of methane loss, energy consumption, and transportation of biomass and manure.

Proper management of the stables, combined with biogas, can significantly reduce the climate impact of livestock manure.

Preliminary evaluation of a biogas plant tool

The purpose of this document is to provide users with information about the possibility of giving value to manure and agricultural by-products of one or more companies through the production of biogas or biomethane.

Biogas plants are complex systems, and a complete evaluation of their feasibility would therefore require the analysis of a large number of parameters and cannot be done without the inspection of a specialized technician. In the same way, a complete and reliable economic evaluation would require very detailed information on the organization responsible for the plant realization (for example, a farm). The information obtained summarize the results of an automatic calculation tool and cannot be considered a feasibility study nor a commercial offer.

If the user considers positive this results and wants to deepen the results can contact the technical staff of ALFA-project.

The version currently available is to be considered in the testing phase. The authors of the tool thank those who wish to write to ALFA-project to report any mistakes and suggest improvements.

The authors of the tool accept the responsibility for the contents of this tool to the extent indicated above. The authors cannot be held responsible for improper use of the results contained by the tool, which are purely indicative and are subject to change subordinated to modifications and corrections of the tool.

The European Commission is not responsible for the use that may be made of the results obtained by using the tool.