Anaerobic Digestion and Bio-Energy

Rising energy prices, energy security, and environmental concerns have driven interest in renewable energy. There are many renewable energy applications in agriculture. We have undertaken a variety of research projects designed to develop a better understanding of economic issues related to bio-energy projects. The primary focus of this work has been on understanding economic issues related to anaerobic digestion of livestock waste. The work listed below provides some background on the topic and addresses some of the key challenges to adoption. You will also find two spreadsheet based tools which can be used to help evaluate the economics of an anaerobic digestion project. When using the tools be sure to read the accompanying input guides and research bulletins. These will explain the inputs required to make use of the spreadsheets.

Readings:

• Gloy, B.A. "How Carbon Dioxide Offsets and Other Policies Impact the Financial Feasibility of Anaerobic Digestion Systems on U.S. Dairy Farms." Paper presented at Got Manure? Enhancing Environmental and Economic Sustainability Conference, Syracuse, NY, March 29, 2012.
• Gloy, B.A. "Assessing the Economic Aspects of Anaerobic Digester Adoption on U.S. Swine Operations." Research Bulletin, January 2012, Center for Commercial Agriculture, Purdue University.
• Gloy, B.A. "Carbon Dioxide Offsets from Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Waste." Working Paper 5(2010). Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University.
• Gloy, B.A. “Creating Renewable Energy from Livestock Waste: Overcoming Barriers to Adoption.”  Extension Bulletin 2 (2008).  17 pages.  Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. 
• Enahoro, D.K. and B.A. Gloy.  “Economic Analysis of Anaerobic Digestion Systems and the Financial Incentives provided by the New York State Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Customer-Sited Tier (CST) Anaerobic Digester Gas (ADG)-to-Electricity Program.”  Extension Bulletin 4 (2008).  23 pages.  Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. 
• Gloy, B.A. “Inputs for Biogas Economic Assessment.”  Extension Bulletin 3 (2008).  10 pages.Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. 

Spreadsheet Analysis Tools for Anaerobic Digestion:

• General Assessment: This tool can be used for a general economic assessement of an anaerobic digestion system.
  
• FarmWare Assessment: This tool is desinged to conduct an analysis from the outputs the US EPA's FarmWare program.

Presentations on Biogas and Renewable Energy:

• Gloy, B.A.  “Digester Economics and Financing.”  Presentation at the Cornell Manure Nutrient Management and Renewable Energy Workshops, held at the Miner Institute and Schuylerville, NY, April 1 and 2, 2008.
  
• Gloy, B.A.  “Opportunities for Renewable Energy on Farms.”  Presentation at the NYSERDA Innovations in Agriculture Conference, Syracuse, NY, March 4, 2008.
  
• Gloy, B.A.  “The Economics of an Integrated Bio-Energy System.”  Presentation at the Northeast Sun Grant Regional Feedstock Summit, Ithaca, NY, November 13, 2007.
  
• Gloy, B.A. “Creating Renewable Energy from Livestock Wastes:  Overcoming Barriers to Adoption.”  Paper presented at the 2008 Renewable Energy World Conference, Las Vegas, NV, February 21, 2008. 
  
• Gloy, B.A. “The Future of Bio-Energy.”  Presentation at the 2007 Northeast Agribusiness Seminar, New York Bankers Association, Ithaca, NY August 6, 2007.