Colorado Pork
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Lamar, Colorado: Hog Farm uses manure waste to produce electricity

Colorado Pork is considered a small- to medium-sized operation with approximately 6,300 sows, producing 15-18,000 gallons of manure a day. A typical farm of this size would normally use $10,000 to $11,000 of electricity a month to handle its operations.

Colorado Swine Partners, however, uses its hog waste to produce a significant amount of the electricity used by the farm. Through its electricity generation and designed-in energy efficiencies, the farm purchases only about $3,500 worth of electricity a month.

Hog manure is gravity fed to an in-ground anaerobic digester. The digester is nothing more than an enclosed pit that uses bacteria to help breakdown the manure. As the manure is digested, the methane is collected. Since methane is basically the same as natural gas, it is connected directly to a combined heat and power generator to produce electricity.

This system has an installed capacity of 80 kW and meets about half of the peak power needs of the farm (power used at any one time). More recently, the farm added a microturbine with 30 kW of generating capacity. Any excess electricity produced can be sent back to the grid for credit through a distributed generation system.

As a result of this project’s electricity generation and the installed energy saving devices, such as using compact fluorescent lights, Colorado Swine Partners’ low monthly electricity bill provides overall savings of about $37,000 per year over comparably sized hog farms with similar product output. Since the whole system cost $375,000, the payback on the investment will be roughly eight years.

Additionally, the airtight digester cuts down on air pollution and eliminates much of the manure volume. Colorado Swine Partners needs a lagoon only about one-sixth the normal size, cutting down on potential water pollution and significantly reducing construction costs associated with building a larger lagoon. Moreover, less water is needed to process the hog waste. Along with the energy efficiency of the farm, the operation provides considerable environmental paybacks. For more information see Colorado Pork.