GHG assessment of Bore Hill Farm Biodigester

Cooper, S.; Lowe, B.; Minter, T.; McManus, M.

This study takes the Bore Hill Farm Biodigester (BHFB) facility as a case study to explore the sources of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with commercial Anaerobic Digestion (AD), and some of the factors affecting them. With access to extensive operational data from a commercial food-waste site, it provides robust analysis of the onsite activities.

The work is based upon Lowe’s (2020) Final Year Project report with additional refinements and expansion.

On the basis of the parameters and boundaries in this study, operation of BHFB causes annual emissions of almost 2000 tCO2e but causes the avoidance of approximately 4100 tCO2e elsewhere. Its overall effect is therefore a net GHG benefit of around 2100 tCO2e. This is equivalent to a net saving of over 300 gCO2e per kWh of electricity exported.

The impact of switching from electricity generation to biomethane production is examined and found to present the potential to more than double the overall GHG benefit; increasing the total benefit to over 4360 tCO2e.