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AgSTAR CONTACT US <https://epa.gov/agstar/forms/requests-agstar-program>

Is Anaerobic Digestion Right for Your

Farm?
Anaerobic digesters can be installed for many reasons, including to treat waste,
reduce odors, provide a revenue source and improve public image. While simple in
concept, there are many sizes, styles and applications of digesters. Projects require
detailed technical and financial planning to be successful.

To find out if your farm may be a good candidate for anaerobic digestion, consider
the following questions:

1. What type of manure does your farm produce?

2. Is your livestock farm “large”?
3. Is your manure management technique compatible with biogas recovery
technology?
4. Is there a use for the energy recovered?
5. Will you be able to manage the system efficiently?

Additionally, the Initial Project Checklist <https://epa.gov/agstar/initial-project-checklist> can

help determine the potential for project viability.

EPA’s Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Screening Tool EXIT can also assist stakeholders in
assessing the potential feasibility of an AD project. The AD Screening Tool enables
users to conduct pre-feasibility analyses to evaluate AD opportunities for a variety of
feedstocks, including organic municipal solid waste, livestock manure, agricultural
residues, and wastewater.
1. What type of manure does your farm produce?
If your farm produces manure from cattle, hogs and/or poultry operations, anaerobic
digesters are technically feasible for you.

2. Is your livestock farm “large”?

For preliminary screening purposes, livestock farms with these characteristics are
potential candidates for anaerobic digestion:

Minimum of 500 head of cattle, 2,000 hogs with anaerobic lagoons or liquid
slurry manure management systems, or 5,000 hogs with deep pit manure
management systems
Minimum of 90 percent of the manure is regularly collected

However, smaller confined facilities could also support successful recovery projects,
given certain site-specific and market conditions. In addition, codigestion of other
organic wastes generated nearby may make a smaller project feasible.

3. Is your manure management technique compatible

with biogas recovery technology?
Biogas production is best suited for farms that regularly collect liquid, slurry or semi-
solid manure with little or no bedding. This requires the farm to collect manure:

As a liquid, slurry or semi-solid (see definitions in table below)

At a single point
Every day or every other day
Free of large amounts of bedding or other materials (e.g., rocks, stones, straw,
sand)

Types of Manure

Manure Compatible with Anaerobic

Definition
Type Digestion?
Manure
Definition
Type
Has been diluted to a solids
content of less than 5%. This
manure is typically “flushed”
from where it is generated,
Liquid
using fresh or recycled water.
Manure
The manure and flush water can
be pumped to treatment and
storage tanks, ponds, lagoons
or other suitable structures.
Has been diluted to a solids
content of 5-10% and is usually
collected by a mechanical
Slurry “scraper” system. It can be
Manure pumped and is often treated or
stored in tanks, ponds or
lagoons prior to land
application.
Is handled as a semi-solid, with
a solids content of 10-20%, and
Semi-
is typically scraped. Water is not
Solid
added to the manure and the
Manure
manure is typically stored until
it is spread on local fields.
Has a solids content of greater
Solid
than 20% and is handled as a
Manure
solid by a scoop loader.
Compatible with Anaerobic
Digestion?
Maybe. Can be adapted for
biogas production and energy
recovery in warm climates. In
colder climates, it may be
limited to gas flaring for odor
control unless other organic
materials are codigested.
Yes. For biogas recovery and
energy production,
depending on climate and
dilution factors.
Yes. Fresh scraped manure
(less than one week old) can
be used for biogas and energy
production in all climates,
because it can be heated to
promote bacterial growth.
Maybe. Aged solid manure or
manure that is left
“unmanaged” (i.e., is left in
the pasture where it is
deposited by the animals) or
allowed to dry is not suitable
for traditional digesters.
However, regularly collected
manure could be used in a
digester.
Farms with different methods of housing animals and managing manure can use
anaerobic digestion, although pretreatment or modifications may be needed. The
animal housing and manure management techniques that are most compatible with
anaerobic digestion include:

Cattle: flushed or scraped freestall barns and drylots

Hogs: houses with flush, pit recharge or pull-plug pit systems
Poultry: houses with flush systems

Anaerobic digesters can use single or multiple feedstocks. Digesters that codigest
manure with other feedstocks (e.g. fats, oils & grease, food wastes, cheese or wine
wastes, manure) can increase biogas production. Additional pre-processing
equipment and holding tanks may be required for codigesting. Also, codigestion can
increase the amount of nutrients in the effluent, so farms considering codigestion
should ensure that they will still comply with their nutrient management plans.

4. Is there a use for the energy recovered?

Photo of a 120 kW engine generator set

combusts recovered biogas, generating
electricity for on-farm use

The use or sale of biogas energy can increase the cost effectiveness of a project. The
value of the energy produced from the gas may offset the cost of collecting and
processing the gas.

Biogas can:
 Generate electricity to:
Fuel a reciprocating engine or gas turbine.
Operate equipment on-farm. For example, dairies operate vacuum pumps,
chillers, feed mixers and fans. Hog farms typically operate heat lamps and
ventilation equipment.
Sell to the local power grid.
Be used directly on-farm to:
Fuel boilers or heaters, and in most processes requiring heat, steam, or
refrigeration. Dairies and hog farms generally require hot wash water for
cleaning and other operations.
Be processed into higher quality fuels, including:
Pipeline quality renewable natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) to fuel vehicles
Be flared to:
Control odor
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

5. Will you be able to manage the system efficiently?

Biogas systems require the owner/operator to:

Pay regular attention to system operations

Provide necessary repair and maintenance
Have the desire to see the system succeed

Contact us <https://epa.gov/agstar/forms/requests-agstar-program> if you answer yes to one or

more of these questions and want to learn more.

Additional Resources
AgSTAR Handbook: A Manual For Developing Biogas Systems at Commercial
Farms <https://epa.gov/agstar/agstar-project-development-handbook>
Anaerobic Digestion Screening Tool EXIT
Guidelines and permitting for anaerobic digestion <https://epa.gov/agstar/guidelines-
and-permitting-livestock-anaerobic-digesters>
 Financial planning <https://epa.gov/agstar/project-planning-and-financing>
Success stories and site profiles <https://epa.gov/agstar/agstar-stories-farm>
Anaerobic digestion on hog operations <https://epa.gov/node/79289>
Estimate methane reductions from operating anaerobic digesters
<https://epa.gov/agstar/estimating-methane-reductions-operating-anaerobic-digestion-systems>

AgSTAR Home <https://epa.gov/agstar>

About AgSTAR <https://epa.gov/agstar/what-epa-doing-agstar>

Events <https://epa.gov/agstar/events-related-anaerobic-digestion-livestock-farms>

Learn About Biogas Recovery <https://epa.gov/agstar/learning-about-biogas-recovery>

Planning AD Projects

10 Keys to Digester Success <https://epa.gov/agstar/10-keys-digester-success>

Risk Analysis and Technical Review Checklist <https://epa.gov/agstar/risk-analysis-and-

technical-review-checklist-preparing-biogas-project-plans>

Is AD Right For You?

Project Planning and Financing <https://epa.gov/agstar/project-planning-and-financing>

Vendor Directory <https://epa.gov/agstar/agstar-vendor-directory-manure-digester-systems>

Building & Operating Biogas Recovery Systems <https://epa.gov/agstar/building-

operating-biogas-recovery-systems>

Biogas Toolkit <https://epa.gov/agstar/biogas-toolkit>

Success Stories <https://epa.gov/agstar/agstar-stories-farm>

Projects & Opportunities <https://epa.gov/agstar/projects-and-opportunities>

AgSTAR Partners <https://epa.gov/agstar/agstar-partners>

Frequent Questions about Livestock Biogas Projects <https://epa.gov/agstar/frequent-

questions-about-livestock-biogas-projects>
Contact Us <https://epa.gov/agstar/forms/requests-agstar-program> to ask a question, provide
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LAST UPDATED ON OCTOBER 13, 2021