Economic Feasibility of Anaerobic Digestion To Produce Electricity on Florida Dairy Farms

Abstract

This paper focuses on the economic feasibilities of using two digester designs suitable for Florida -- covered lagoons and fixed-film digesters to generate electricity for on-farm use or sales. A grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) was used to employ the services of two consulting firms that were familiar with the design and operation of fixed-film and covered lagoon digesters. The consultants visited three dairy farms located in Florida in the winter of 2005, calculated wastewater flows (including flushed manure, milking parlor wastewater, and recycled flush water), and determined the size and other necessary aspects of the potential systems specific to each dairy farm. Estimates were developed for the quantities of biogas and electricity that would be generated by each system. The consulting firms also projected initial capital investment costs and operating and maintenance costs for each system. Retired from EDIS public website March 30, 2021.