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The Economics of Anaerobic Digester Technology for Ontario Farmers

Anaerobic digester (AD) technology is a form of renewable energy that’s economic feasibility assessment is required site by site. This thesis presents a freely available workbook to determine the financial feasibility of a farm-based AD and to demonstrate its use for the Ontario livestock sector. To assess the profitability of ADs for farmers in Ontario with uncertainty included the theory of real options is used. Investment in an AD is financially feasible only for the largest dairy farms in Ontario under current electricity prices, which are approximately six times greater than the wholesale price. Shifting to a duel fuel continuous system would improve returns, as would the availability of additional substrate material in the form of solid grease waste. The real options approach shows that even higher net returns are necessary, than indicated by more traditional approaches, in order for AD investments to be feasible for Ontario livestock farmers.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OGU.10214/3630
Date14 May 2012
CreatorsAnderson, Robert
ContributorsWeersink, Alfons
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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