Carbon Neutral Energy Production
Carbon dioxide is a necessary component for plants’ metabolism. As plants grow, they continually take in carbon. Animals feed on these plants and the carbon is transferred to their bodies. Thus, both plants and animals function as temporary carbon sinks. When these are the sources used to generate heat, electricity or fuel, this production of energy is consequently carbon neutral because the carbon has been recently used for the growth of organic material.
In contrast, fossil fuels hold carbon stores that have not been part of the earth’s carbon cycle for millions of years. When energy is produced by burning these fossil fuels, additional carbon is released into the atmosphere.
BIOFerm™ biogas plants produce energy from a continually produced artifact of society: organic waste. Typically, organic waste, such as kitchen scraps, yard waste, food processing waste and agricultural waste from farms, is put directly into a landfill or used to generate compost. With a BIOFerm™ energy solution, organic waste is turned into a resource.
Greenhouse Gas Offsets
Calculate your Carbon Footprint
BIOFerm™ Energy Systems plants stimulate the decomposition of existing organic waste in a controlled environment. Because the system harnesses the generated methane, it reduces the release of this gas into the earth’s atmosphere that would otherwise occur if the organic waste were to decompose in an uncontrolled environment (e.g., a landfill or compost pile).
Methane has a global warming potential (GWP) of 23, while carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1. This means that each ton of methane released into the atmosphere has the same harmful effects of 23 tons of carbon dioxide. Reducing the amount of methane that is released into the atmosphere is an extremely beneficial action we can take to improve the environment. Additionally, BIOFerm™ Energy Systems’ plants generate renewable energy that can be used to displace fossil fuels. In this way, BIOFerm™ energy producers prevent the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, further preventing GHGs from entering the atmosphere.
The result is an offsetting, or reduction, in greenhouse gas emissions. The owner of a BIOFerm™ facility can engage in various activities of carbon credit and emission reductions trading.
To learn more about carbon credits and markets, download this Carbon Economy Overview White Paper (520 KB).
Waste Management
The overall volume of waste put into a BIOFerm™ plant is greatly reduced through the dry fermentation process. Only 60% of the volume of what goes in is leftover after the 28-day cycle. The organic material remaining after a complete dry fermentation cycle is the equivalent of advanced stage compost. This can be further processed and sold for commercial or private use.
By reducing the volume of waste material, BIOFerm™ biogas plants lengthen the lifespan of landfills and increase the capacity of compost sites and lessen hauling costs and energy consumption necessary for removing large amounts of waste.
