Exploring Expansion of Biogas Energy Production
on Homesteads, Small-Scale, and Large-Scale Farms
Author:
Morgan Powell ’26Co-Authors:
Faculty Mentor(s):
Dr. Shaunna Barnhart, Bucknell Center for Sustainability & the Environment (BCSE)Funding Source:
the William Corrington Renewable Energy Fund and Center for Sustainability & the EnvironmentAbstract
This project analyzes how the perception and implementation of biogas differs across large-scale farms, small-scale farms, and homesteading operations. Its end goal is to better understand the economic feasibility and practicality of biogas at different scales with the hope of establishing a more solid foundation for the sustainability community to operate on and more widespread use of biogas. Both a survey and in-person interviews were conducted during this research. The results of both indicate that existing literature does not accurately represent the state of biogas in Pennsylvania. While public perception and existing studies indicate that biogas is most effective on large-scale farms, this study finds that biogas on a micro scale is overall more affordable, accessible, and easy to maintain. With 17% of the large scale farms using biogas in Pennsylvania responding to the survey and on-site visits to two large scale farms, the results show that the cost to maintain a large biogas digester (all of which were over $1 million to build) are potentially prohibitive for the long term viability of large scale systems. In contrast, the small scale users who are building smaller household scale systems for on-site use for energy generation (all of which were under $1,000 to build) report minimum expenses necessary for maintenance.