The Rural Voice, 1979-08, Page 6Then, once you have overcome the pitfalls and produced the
gas, how are you going to use it, and use it continuously?
Methane gas doesn't liquify nearly as easily as propane and
additional energy may be needed to compress the gas into some
kind of storage system.
Also, there will be other trace gases present in the methane.
One of these is hydrogen sulfide, and if the gas produced is
going to be used to operate an engine or motor, the sulfide gas
must be removed since it's highly corrosive.
But, despite all the drawbacks, Prof. Pos is the first to say
"thank goodness there are farmers who are innovators."
One farmer who decided to take a chance on producing
methane was John Fallis, a Peterborough County hog farmer,
whose digester system was designed for him by Doug Young,
then working for Midwest Silos.
When John Fallis and his father Eric were setting up a
partnership operation on the farm, and planning to expand their
hog production, they decided to look at a manure maintenance
program.
Mr. Fallis submitted the digester plan to Agriculture Canada
and was given a research contract to test the system. He started
building the system in the fall of 1977, and it was the following
spring before he put any manure into it. The first gas was
produced in the summer of 1978, but then problems developed
with the agitation system.
The farmer has since installed an agitator at the cost of $1,500.
The system is still working only "off and on" although right now
Mr. Fallis is getting methane gas trom it most of the time. A t
present, the gas is just being burned off into the atmosphere.
Mr. Fallis keeps his digester system at the right temperature
by heating it with propane.
10 PER CENT
The leftover manure he eventually spreads back on the fields
PG. 4 THE RURAL VOICE/ AUGUST 1979
where he's growing corn. To date, he has only treated about 10
per cent of his manure in the digester due to problems with the
system. He said although he was led to believe it would reduce
the odour of the manure. there hasn't been any evidence of this
yet.
John Fallis said if a farmer came to him and asked about
on-farm methane production, he would advise him to wait and
see what happens with the project. He said the costs at present
are "prohibitive" - it cost about $16,000 to build his system and
he thinks a farmer's management time could likely be better
spent on his livestock.
Jack Underwood said if someone approached him with the
same question, he'd ask the farmer two things - first, "Why are
you doing it?" If the farmer answered. just for experimentation,
then Mr. Underwood said he'd say go ahead, but be aware that it
will cost more to put the system into operation than you'll save
on energy costs.
The second question he'd ask is, "Are you willing to change
your management practises to fit the system?"
The engineer said the farmer should have to consider how he'd
collect his manure for the system and what sort of feed rations
would give the best manure to produce methane. He said
farmers should be aware they can't use antibiotics with their
livestock when producing the gas, since the drugs kill the
bacteria necessary for methane production. Also, if the digester
goes sour, and it takes it awhile to get back into operation, then
the farmer must have some kind of backup system in operation if
he's dependent on the energy produced by the digester.
Also. Mr. Underwood pointed out, the farmer has to be
prepared to allot time to tend the system a least once a day.
If methane production on the farm does someday become
feasible, both Prof. Pos and Jack Underwood can see numerous
uses for the alternate energy source. The gas can be used to heat