The Australian pork industry has been granted contracts under the federal government's Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) following four successful biogas projects.
Credits generated through the ERF will assist producers significantly reduce payback periods for implementation of these biogas systems which can be used to displace fossil fuel used for heating or for combined heat and power generation.
The biogas is created using effluent which is collected from pig sheds and conveyed to an anaerobic treatment system, either a covered pond or a purpose built digester.
The pork industry in Australia only accounts for around 0.4 per cent of Australia’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Over the seven year life of these contracts, the emissions reduction will be the equivalent of getting 11,571 houses off the grid for one year.
Australian Pork Limited CEO Andrew Spencer said: “The results of this first auction highlights the innovative and progressive nature of Australian pork farmers as well as demonstrating the industry is walking the talk when taking responsibility for environmental stewardship and reducing its carbonfootprint”.
Murdoch University researchers, meanwhile, are investigating whether the effluent from piggeries can be effectively treated with micro and macroalgae so that species of the organism can be safely fed back to pigs.
They have found that microalgae remove ammonia, other nutrients and potentially reduce the pathogen load in the effluent, meaning that the treated waste water can be reused.
The Cooperative Research Centre for High Integrity Australian Pork (Pork CRC) has invested $300,000 with the Algae Research and Development Centre at Murdoch University to investigate the proposals, which would cut costs, recover energy from waste and reduce the potential for groundwater contamination at piggeries.
The discovery is a world first and offers a potentially cost effective means of remediating piggery effluent.
