Editor of Pig Progress magazine Vincent ter Beek paid a visit to Ashleigh Farms last month to profile GasAbate and the effect it can have on emissions and anaerobic digestion on the Waterford farm.
Ashleigh Farms is owned and operated by brothers Ken and Jason McGrath and, as Vincent writes, the brothers "are ahead of the curve. At this location with 550 sows and accompanying fattening pigs, many modern techniques can be found." One of them is GasAbate.
Source: www.boerderij.nl
As Vincent writes, the effect of GasAbate can be seen in the manure pit: "If you look down, you will see 'normal' brown manure ... A little further ... a large 'island' of yellowish bubbles looms ... there is something going on."
What's going on is the effect of the GasAbate additive, with methane emissions reduced by 80%, hydrogen sulphide by 80% and ammonia by 50%.
Source: www.boerderij.nl
As well as the emissions reductions, Ashleigh Farms intends to use the treated slurry for anaerobic digestion. As Ken McGrath tells Vincent: "About eight years ago, we became interested in biogas ... it turned out to be extremely difficult to get good quality gas; the yield was low." He continues: "We heard about this GasAbate technology and saw the potential to improve our biogas yield."
As Vincent writes, the McGraths say that calculations show that about 1,000 tonnes of CO2e per year could be saved with the additive because the quality of the biogas is better.
The brothers plan to install GasAbate all over their farm. As they tell Vincent: "We expect to be able to offset 80-100% of the energy consumption on site by using GasAbate-treated manure in the digester."
You can read Vincent's full article on the Boerderij website here.