ARDCORP - RENEWABLE AGRI-ENERGY INITIATIVE

Project Details
Total Cost
Phase 1: $100,000
Phase 2: $100,000
Phase 3: $220,000
BCBN Investment
Phase 1: $100,000
Phase 2: $37,397
Phase 3: $162,612
Status
All Phases: Completed
Location
Abbotsford Head Office, province-wide application
Producing energy from agricultural waste feedstock
Phase 1: Operations Support
Phase 2: Operations Support
Phase 3: Cowpower Program
BCBN is working with the BC Agriculture Council (“BCAC”) and its subsidiary BC Agriculture and Research Corporation (“ARDCorp”) to develop the agriculture bioenergy value stream.
ARDCorp and BCAC are mandated to help strengthen the competitiveness of BC’s agriculture sector and have identified energy generation from agricultural waste feedstock as a key opportunity area.
Established in 2009, ARDCorp’s Renewable Agri-Energy Initiative (“RAI”) has supported and encouraged the understanding and development of renewable agri-energy activities that will provide environmental and economic benefits to BC’s agricultural industry through waste management, greenhouse gas emission reduction, increased water and food safety, food waste diversion, odor reduction and revenue diversification.
The RAI Manager works with other stakeholders in the energy, environment and agriculture industries to identify and assess opportunities that hold the most promise for BC.
RAI highlights include significant work around anaerobic digestion applications, gasification of poultry litter and other agricultural wastes and working with government regulators.
The RAI hosted an innovative event during the 2016 Pacific Agriculture Show, at which the various stakeholders discussed the most current issues related to renewable agri-energy. The 2016 Agricultural & Municipal Biogas Forum, held January 27 – 29, enabled attendees to enhance their renewable agri-energy and waste management knowledge through presentations and discussions on renewable energy, co-product development and waste management technologies and research pertinent to BC’s agricultural sector.
For the first time, this Forum was hosted jointly by ARDCorp and the Canadian Biogas Association. The three main themes of this Forum were “Biogas for Agriculture: Farm to Fuel”; “Municipal Guide to Biogas” and “Biogas as a Vehicle Fuel: Closing the Loop”. Each theme also featured two break-out sessions.
One of the RAI’s most significant initiatives was Cowpower, a voluntary pricing program that encourages electricity consumers in BC to support the adoption of on-farm anaerobic digesters. However, Cowpower is presently shut down. The number of organizations that had signed on to Cowpower was insufficient to make the program self-sustaining.