The unwavering perseverance of a dairy farm family was key to getting Dicklands Biogas up and running in Chilliwack.
Today it香蕉视频直播檚 the largest biogas plant in B.C.
香蕉视频直播淚t has been a big journey of perseverance,香蕉视频直播� said George Dick, one of the owners of Dicklands Biogas.
The Dick family has lived on the dairy farm in Greendale since 1946, but the biogas part of their business is now ramping up after only being in operation for six months.
The goal is to produce 180,000 gigajoules of biogas a year, and they see it as the 香蕉视频直播渇uture of farming,香蕉视频直播� according to their website.
The biogas is refined and sold to FortisBC, while the solids, or digestate materials, are made into fertilizer.
A large group of visitors was touring the sprawling site on Friday (Sept. 15), with Dicklands Biogas as one of three locations featured on the 2023 Chilliwack Agricultural Tour.
Waste, like livestock manure and local food waste, is transformed into biogas in air-tight tanks through fermentation.
香蕉视频直播淚 don香蕉视频直播檛 like to say that we香蕉视频直播檙e particularly innovative because everything that you香蕉视频直播檙e going to see here, I saw somewhere else,香蕉视频直播� Dick explained.
They香蕉视频直播檝e been putting the 香蕉视频直播減uzzle pieces香蕉视频直播� of creating a biogas plant together for 13 years.
The massive tanks dominate the view at the farm, and they contain anaerobic digesters which take in the manure and organics, and produce the biogas.
The digester tanks were full of dairy manure, and chicken manure last week, as well as food waste from neighbouring farms.
Dick told the crowd they would also love an opportunity to take all of the City of Chilliwack香蕉视频直播檚 12,000 tonnes of food waste. But that would only become possible one day if the yard waste was separated from the rest of the materials, since the digesters can香蕉视频直播檛 handle any woody, fibrous materials.
In the meantime, neighbouring farms have been trucking in their excess manure, and food waste, and offloading at Dicklands, so the biogas plant is solving some environmental problems for other farms as well.
香蕉视频直播淭he farms around me are really excited about it because maybe they香蕉视频直播檒l just send me 10 per cent of their manure, or maybe they香蕉视频直播檒l send me 15 per cent of their manure. But it will just be enough to bring them into balance,香蕉视频直播� Dick said. And for some that香蕉视频直播檚 all they need.
This is how the company encapsulates its business description in marketing: 香蕉视频直播淥ur biogas plant protects air, water, and soil by converting manure and food waste into renewable natural gas and organic fertilizer pellets, all while reducing GHG emissions.香蕉视频直播�
Scott Gramm, Fortis BC香蕉视频直播檚 manager of renewable gas supply, said the family began the venture with feasibility studies in 2010.
Within two years, FortisBC signed a long-term agreement with them to buy energy from Dicklands.
The biogas would be piped right into the utility香蕉视频直播檚 natural gas pipelines from equipment installed at the farm.
香蕉视频直播淎t the time there was only one project in B.C., just barely in operation,香蕉视频直播� Gramm said about the state of the industry when the Dick family began looking at the possibilities in 2010.
There were only 30 existing biogas facilities anywhere on the continent.
Now Dicklands is one of seven biogas projects operating in B.C., with more than 300 across North America.
香蕉视频直播淭hese guys faced all manner of hurdles over this last decade or so,香蕉视频直播� Gramm told the crowd. 香蕉视频直播淎nd the thing is every door they knocked on for every new permit, they香蕉视频直播檇 have to explain what biogas is.香蕉视频直播�
The family persevered and were transparent throughout the process in getting a long-term agreement with Fortis BC.
香蕉视频直播漈his in fact is the biggest and highest producing facility today in the province,香蕉视频直播� Gramm said.
Their status as the largest in B.C. will at some point be eclipsed by two landfills equipped with new biogas plants coming online in Vancouver and Victoria, he noted. But Dickland Biogas will still remain the largest biogas facility on farmland.
The 2023 Ag Tour on Sept. 15 in Chilliwack started out with a visit to Rainbow Greenhouses, continued on to Dicklands Biogas, and then to Farmhouse Brewing Co.
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