The Economics of Dairy Anaerobic Digestion with Coproduct Marketing

Increasing national focus on renewable energy has prompted a reappearance of anaerobic digestion technology installations on dairy farms. The focus of this study is on an operational digester in Washington State. Using the first two years of physical and financial data from the operational digester, a base scenario is constructed. The analysis focuses on the impact of developing various coproduct markets on the digestion system's feasibility. The coproduct markets analyzed include electricity, digested fiber, tipping fees, and carbon credits. The results of the economic analysis show that tipping fees and electricity are key revenue sources for the digester.