AG Biogas In The Bio-Economy

By Jonathan Cocker, Partner at BLG, and Brent Lyon at Scovan Engineering

Traditional on-farm biogas projects have been modest in both scale and returns, often driven by a combination of localized concerns over manure management, nutrient recovery and energy generation for either on-farm usage or for limited electricity sale under specialized rate programs such as Ontario's feed-in-tariff.

But the push for decarbonisation, with expansive regulatory and voluntary purchase programs mandating lower carbon energy, is remaking many industry sectors –including biogas and its role within Canada's bio-economy.

On-farm renewable natural gas prioritized

With this climate change impetus, both the federal and many provincial governments are now promoting agricultural-based biogas projects as part of a broader bio-economy initiative to develop existing and readily available resources with a lower carbon footprint. For instance, the federal government's Agricultural Clean