Notice Board

The Southern Alberta Council on Public affairs (SACPA) presents a session with southern Alberta farmer Chris Perry as he discusses the future of biogas production in agriculural operations.

Sustainable Farming: What role can Biogas Production Play in Reducing CO2 Emissions?

Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 10 a.m. MST

YouTube Live link:  https://youtu.be/IJCUudOu1nw

Biogas production is essentially an industrial stomach which converts organic waste into usable fuel. Biogas is 60 per cent methane and used to fuel powerful engines that drive generators producing 100 per cent renewable electricity — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This electricity can be used by the producer or sold into the Alberta Electricity Grid through AESO. 

Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is arguably the green gas of tomorrow and is the most efficient means of converting organics into renewable energy. Once biogas is upgraded to RNG, it is interchangeable with natural gas and can be injected into local gas grids and used for generating electricity or vehicle fueling. 

Biogas plants can process a wide array of organic waste materials from the food industry and agricultural residues including deadstock and manure. In the food industry business sector, anaerobic digestion offers significant cost advantages over traditional disposal methods, both to waste management companies and producers alike. The speaker will explain the lengthy regulatory process to build a biogas facility. As well, he will argue that while such projects are not particularly viable at the moment, biogas facilities can be an important piece of the puzzle to address climate change and increase the sustainability of farming.

Speaker:                     Chris Perry

Chris Perry is the co-founder and President of CKP Farms Ltd. and Grow the Energy Circle Ltd. (GrowTEC). He is a farm boy at heart with a passion for renewable energy. He would like to participate in expanding Alberta’s agriculture industry to its potential in the next decade or two. Chris, along with his brother Harold, manages a 4,000-acre irrigated farm in southern Alberta. They grow potatoes for Frito Lay and McCain Foods Canada and green peas for Bonduelle. GrowTEC commissioned a 633 KW generating capacity anaerobic digester waste to energy facility in November 2014 and they produce triple their entire farm’s electricity use from organic waste.

Chris has the goal of incorporating the ICT technology of today more thoroughly into the agriculture sector. The ideas of yesterday around precision agriculture, integrated with the data analysis, management and storage cyber-infrastructure of today have the ability to be a game changer in yield per acre increases. Variable rate irrigation, full visual spectral sensors for real time moisture, nutrient and carbon management are all available with more potential and affordability than ever before.

In order to ask questions of our speaker in the chat feature of YouTube, you must have a YouTube account and be signed in. Please do so well ahead of the scheduled start time, so you’ll be ready. Go the YouTube Live link provided in this session flyer and on the top right of your browser click the “sign in” button. If you have Google or Gmail accounts, they can be used to sign in. If you don’t, click “Create Account” and follow along. Once you are signed in, you can return to the live stream and use the chat feature to ask your questions of the speaker. Remember, you can only participate in the chat feature while we are livestreaming.

SACPA’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SouthernAlbertaCouncilonPublicAffairs

For further information on the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs, visit the SACPA website.