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Renewable Resources on Poultry Farms in Georgia

EMMA BRODZIK, MARIA LUCAS (SPEAKER), BLAKE JONES, LILY SMITH, OSAMUYI OBADOLAGBONYI, ASHOK SANKARAN

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Introduction��How does the world take on international climate mitigation goals?

Polycentrism

Creative Solutions

Local Applications

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Scope

Policy implementors typically only focus on carbon emissions
Methane is "more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere"
To address these impacts, unavoidable greenhouse gas emission processes must be addressed

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https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases#methane

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Application in Georgia

Narrowing our scope to a specific application allows us to understand the costs and benefits of a policy program to capture biogas

Addressing the poultry industry in the state of Georgia gives us this perspective

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IMPLAN 2019 Data

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Current State

Georgia is not a top candidate for biogas capture from cattle; however, the opportunity surrounding biogas from poultry is viable
The State of Georgia has a vast poultry industry, accounting for $24.5 billion in economic output in 2019
The largest potential being with laying hens, or chickens that lay eggs

The nature of the current process of wet waste collection in egg production lends itself to more potential than other poultry products

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IMPLAN 2019 Data

Poultry in Georgia in 2019 supported $24.5 billion in economic output related to poultry production and processing and its supply chain with $7B in value added, which makes up 1% of GA’s GDP. Methane emissions from poultry farms contribute 4% of statewide methane emissions. Because of its importance to GA jobs and the agricultural economy of the state, the industry should be maintained and bettered to be more resilient to climate change by capturing the gas released by the raising of chickens. Capturing biogas is feasible in laying operations, or egg production because of the suitability for wet manure management systems necessary for biogas generation. wet waste collection releases more gas than dry management systems. Therefore, implementing biodigester systems on egg production farms is easier and has a more significant climate mitigation impac.

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Technical Potential

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the breakdown of matter in the absence of oxygen.

Biogas is produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable material such as manure, green waste, plant material etc.

Biogas comprises primarily methane and carbon dioxide and small amount of hydrogen sulfide.

The potential of manure for energy globally is estimated 5-7 Exajoules.

“The United States currently has 2,200 operating biogas systems across all 50 states and has the potential to add over 13,500 new systems.”

The technical potential of biogas can be fully harnessed through governments’ support and policies in training, education, financial donations within integrated rural development programs for agriculture and sustainable forestry, protection of agricultural land, reforestation, and sustainable management of forests.

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Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a biochemical process were microorganisms breaks down biomass to release energy (biogas) or to manage waste from landfills and animal operations. Biogas is composed of methane, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases.

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System Overview

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Greenhouse Gas Avoidance

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	Rate	Total Per Year in GA
Laying Hens		19,974,000
Methane Emissions	0.3kg CH/head/yr	6,025 tons
Manure	35.3kg manure/head/yr	652,792 tons
Biogas	0.078m3 biogas/kg manure	51M m³
Energy Content	22MJ/m3	1.12M GJ

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Energy Carbon Intensity

Biogas from manure alone can only substitute 15.7% of energy, cutting energy consumption emissions only by 9%

Adequate supply of organic waste energy could reduce emissions by about 55%

Average US Egg Production Energy vs. Biogas:

0.173kg vs. 0.08kg CO₂/MJ

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Greenhouse Gas Avoidance

35,936 tons CO₂/yr avoided from nutrient recovery

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Nitrogen Recovery	Phosphorus Recovery
280kg N/ton laying hens/yr	115kg P/ton laying hens/year
3.5kg CO₂/kg N	1.2kg CO₂/kg P

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Greenhouse Gas Avoidance

Potential avoided methane emissions represents 41% of total methane emissions from the GA Poultry industry including its supply chain.

CO₂ emissions in the industry can be reduced for 9% by transitioning to a less carbon intensive renewable energy supply.

In total, there is a potential to reduce over 312K tons of CO₂eq by converting manure to biogas and digestate (0.3% of GA’s 2020 GHGs emissions).

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Areas of GHG Avoidance	Tons CH4	Tons CO₂eq
Manure Methane Emission	6,025	168,709
Energy Consumption		107,402
Nutrient Recovery		35,936
Total Emissions Avoided		312,047

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Economic Impact

Major Obstacles & Takeaways

Revenue from bio-gas sold back to utility providers can benefit farms

Additional $13,700 monthly for farms on average
For some farms, more economically feasible to re-use biogas, $7.6-$274K savings

Bio-gas used on farms can reduce energy costs from the grid
Largest obstacle to biogas production are the upfront costs of installation

Installation can also bring economic development if incentivized

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Costs & Savings

The Anaerobic digesters cost scale as well

Average cost $1.2 Million
Funding exists through cost sharing, grants

REAP Program offers funds for up to 25% of eligible projects

On average, the NPV of the system is positive after just over 3.5 years in the absence of policy incentives.

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These Machines can cost anywhere from $400,000 to $1.5 Million, so farms must conduct a feasibility analysis to determine whether their farm is right for biogas production. On average, the NPV of installing the system is positive after just over 3.5 years. Such factors that go into feasibility include high electricity costs, wet manure management systems, and the presence of funding avenues such as the REAP. The Rural Energy for America Program offers grants for up to 25% of eligible projects. Farms can also find low rates through guaranteed loans or receive tax relief through industrial revenue bonds. Currently some states on the west coast use LCFS to subsidize the sale of biogas back to utility providers, but Georgia does not implement this type of standard yet. Through these avenues, there is an opportunity for Georgia laying hen farms to benefit from biogas production.

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Costs & Savings

Incorporating other organic waste, maximizes energy savings potential and decreases the time in which it takes for benefits to outweigh the initial investment.
Farms can be further incentivized to manage organic waste diverted from municipal landfills if some of the avoided landfill tipping fee was paid to farmers.

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Renewable Fuel Standards

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Purpose: To require that industries supplement a certain percentage of their fuel with renewable sources, such as biogas.

Strategy: Borrow proven-policies like the LCFS from California, which establishes standards on the transportation sector.

Example: Subsidizing the purchase of biogas for every gallon purchased in order to meet an expected quota.

Success: From 2011-2017 California was able to increase the production of biogas by 67% by using a combination of policy tools to meet renewable fuel standards put in place.

�In response to rising concern over the contribution of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere via the transportation sector, renewable fuel standards were created to diversify sources of fuel to include less carbon-intensive fuels. The Department of Energy recognizes biomass feedstocks and “manure slurries from concentrated livestock operations” as legitimate sources of renewable fuels.

Twenty-two states have proceeded to adopt RFSs which include the use of biogas. California has been extremely successful in increasing the portion of biogas in their energy mix by relying on their creation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard or Clean Fuel Standard. The LCFS is applied to sellers of transportation fuels and allows for the production of low-carbon fuels, purchase of said fuels, purchase of fuel credits, and allows you to bank credits in advance. The standard is intended to require that a certain proportion of fuel used in the sector comes from renewable less carbon intensive sources. Additionally the policy subsidizes biogas between 50 cents and one dollar per gallon produced. This has resulted in a 67% increase of biogas over a six-year period (2011-2017) in California.

�

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Renewable Energy Credits

Purpose: Recognizing biogas as a renewable source and tradable allowance within a cap-and-trade system

Why: Incentivizes the production of biogas from waste materials and provides an additional income for farmers managing and producing the gas

Benefits: Further diversify energy portfolios and monetarily incentivize the capture of biogas which would otherwise freely contribute to the accumulation of greenhouse gasses.

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Policy Recommendations

1) Georgia should establish a climate plan with mitigation and adaptation measures.
2) Employ the use of Renewable Fuel Standards which require a certain percentage of fuel to come from a renewable source such as biogas.
3) Encourage biogas producers to take advantage of money available through revolving loan funds to install expensive anerobic digesters. Additionally, award tax credits based on the quantity of biogas energy produced.
4) Georgia should recognize biogas produced via chicken manure as a tradable credit within industries' cap and trade system.

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Institutional Requirements

Avoid mandated programs, instead introduce robust support network

Focus on helping provide resources
Encourage and make it easy for more farms to implement biogas capture systems

Three core components

Biogas Development Centers
Private contractor market
Interaction with farmers and localities

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Institutional Requirements

Biogas Development Centers

Establish near major farming areas
Responsibilities:

Training and educating employees for technical support for the program
Deliver consultancy services when necessary for private contractors
Conduct biannual survey inspection of local farms that implemented biogas capture

Build strategically near colleges for ensuring employment and innovation

Private Contractors

Engage existing contractors, show the market potential of biogas system installation
Encourage entry into market through investment tax credits and feed-in tariffs

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Institutional Requirements

Interaction with farmers and localities

Spend time explaining goals of the project to farmers and the benefits for them and their community
Provide economic incentives for participating in the program
Provide contact information of local assigned Biogas Development Centers and help resources
Install meters that track biogas production statistics

Collect data monthly for first six months
Biannual collection thereafter

Solutions tailored per farm

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