- Check out the full article on the UN website.
The GEF Biogas Brazil project is led by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and carried out primarily by CIBiogás.
Launched in March 2021, the call for proposals for Demonstration Units (UDs) offered a total investment of approximately R$ 2.6 million to the selected proposals for the optimization of infrastructure and operations. In addition, the DU call for proposals links the selected biogas plants to the GEF Biogas Brazil project as Demonstration Units (DUs), presenting the Brazilian market with success stories that can be replicated across the country.
Improvements Implemented – Visitstook place in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná. During the visits, the owners and managers of the facilities presented the improvements implemented with funding from the GEF Biogas Brazil project.
For Danieli Rambo, co-owner of Granja Kist e Froelich (Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul), the investment from the UDs grant program made it possible to carry out several improvements to the farm’s biogas plant. “We were able to complete all the structural work—including fencing and the construction of the settling ponds—with the project’s support. Our goal is to achieve a complete cycle for the farm’s manure. We want to reuse everything and use the solid portion of the digestate to sell as organic fertilizer, and the liquid portion (after the water reuse process) to wash the pig pens,” said the owner.
At the Granja Master facility (Videira, SC), the engineer in charge of the plant, Jackson Granetto, spoke about the equipment purchased with the project’s investment. “With the investment from the GEF project, we acquired a microturbine based on a new concept in power generation, which allows us to harness thermal energy by heating water. In addition to the microturbine, we also acquired a sludge filter press, which we will use to dry our final product and sell it.”
The engineer also stated that, with these implementations, the facility’s technological process—from production to waste disposal—will be carried out in a more sustainable and ecologically balanced manner.
Benefits of Biogas – At3Gs Adubos Orgânicos (Boa Esperança do Iguaçu, Paraná), one of the energy applications of biogas is the generation of thermal energy, which is used to heat part of the facility’s poultry houses. According to the company’s head of Research and Development, Gilmar Marcelo de Paula, biogas has helped reduce heating costs. “By using biogas instead of other fuels, we’ve eliminated problems such as temperature fluctuations, for example. In addition, our consumption is lower. We spend only 30% as much on biogas as we used to spend on firewood,” he said.
The owner also pointed out that with this business model, they are able to turn an environmental liability into an economic asset. “In addition to helping the environment, we’re turning what used to be an environmental liability into something more economically viable,” he concluded.
Plans for the Future – Duringthe technical visits, plant managers discussed the future prospects for biogas use. At EnerDinBo, with support from the GEF project, the following systems were implemented: a heating monitoring system, a biodigestion system pressure monitoring system, and a biogas purification system that the plant planned to install in 2024.
According to EnerDinBo’s technical director, Thiago González, following the implementation of the biomethane purification and production system, the company’s next step is to supply biomethane—still in 2022—to the fleet of trucks that collect waste and transport it to the facility.
“In addition to significantly accelerating a plan we already had in place to use biomethane in our fleet, we will also be able to extend the service life of our biogas and power generation systems. Consequently, this will help reduce our day-to-day operating costs,” he explained.
In Castro (PR), the plan for the Castrolanda biogas plant—in partnership with 3DI Engenharia—is to capture CO2 from the refining system for use in the stunning of animals. “The plan is to capture CO2 from the biogas and use it at the pig slaughterhouse, thereby also improving the calorific value of the gas that currently powers the generators,” explained Carol Smilevski, the engineer in charge of the plant.
At Fecularia Três Fronteiras, a facility located in Itaúna do Sul (PR), owner Henrique Fragoso Saonetti stated that the GEF Biogás Brasil project helped improve the quality of the biogas.
“We just needed a little push to get the biogas ready for the generator sets. With the modular dehumidifiers we purchased with funding from the GEF project, we now have the option that, should one generator set malfunction, the others can continue operating—and do so as efficiently as possible—using the best possible gas, at the proper temperature and humidity levels to prevent damage to the generator sets.”
Based on these improvements, the owner is already considering future prospects for biogas. “There are some possibilities that biogas offers, and I’m thinking of developing them here at the starch plant. One of them is using biogas to produce biomethane and fuel our fleet of tractors. We’re also considering the possibility of separating CO2 for use in beverages. Biogas offers us many possibilities, and we want to make the most of it,” he concluded.
Learn more about the Demonstration Units and follow the latest news about the project on GEF Biogás Brasil’s Instagram. Visithttps://www.instagram.com/gefbiogasbrasil/to learn more.
