Biogas benefits
Biogas offers significant opportunities for Canadian farmers. Investing in a biogas system can lead to both environmental and business advantages for a farm operation.
Reduce your farm’s environmental footprint
Biogas production helps enhance a farm’s environmental stewardship. Capturing and using methane through anaerobic digestion can significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure systems, mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Other environmental advantages:
- Produces nutrient-rich digestate that boosts crop production
- Provides green energy sources (renewable heat, electricity, natural gas) for farm activities
- Creates a sustainable loop of food, waste and energy
- Removes odour compounds from raw manure
- Reduces pest populations (anaerobic digestion destroys weed seeds and kills pathogens)
- Recovers and transforms lost nutrients into soil amendments, reducing commercial fertilizer requirements and costs
- Indirectly protects ground water
- Supports the sustainability of the farm community
A business opportunity for the future of your farm
Converting manure and other feedstock into renewable energy can also help a farm diversify its sources of income and create new opportunities for the next generation.
- Improves a farm’s financial picture through energy sales
- Adds revenue through tipping fees from non-agricultural feedstock
- Reduces input costs
- Mitigates risk as world markets and supply management evolves
- Supports local agricultural production (food wastes in communities, neighbouring farms)
- Invests in the farm’s next generation
This Biogas benefits for your farm factsheet provides more details about these benefits.
Biogas system flow
This infographic illustrates how a biogas system works on the farm, creating a sustainable loop of food, waste and energy. Benefits are realized throughout the system.
Download a copy of this infographic here.
More resources
The Canadian Biogas Association has been working on developing the agricultural biogas sector for more than a decade. Below you’ll find two reports with more details about the evolution of this growing sector. Click on the report and complete the information request. You’ll receive a copy of the report immediately.
CBA Report: Farm to Fuel – Developers’ Guide to Biomethane
A guide to help farmers determine if biomethane production is a good fit for their farm and operations.
CBA Report: Current Status and Future Potential of Biogas Production from Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Sector
A study of the current state of agricultural biogas production in Canada, the potential for growth and requirements to increase the production by 2030.
