WFSC Research Symposium |
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Symbiosis opportunities between food and energy system :
manure based biogas as heat source for greenhouses
V. Burg1,2, F. Golzar3, G. Bowman1, S. Hellweg2, R. Roshandel3
1 Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, 2 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich), Institute of Environmental Engineering, John‐von‐Neumann‐Weg 9, CH‐8093 Zürich, Switzerland, 3 Sharif University of Technology, Department of Energy Engineering, Tehran, Iran
31/10/2019 vanessa.burg@wsl.ch
Vanessa Burg, Farzin Golzar, Gillianne Bowman, Stefanie Hellweg, Ramin Roshandel. Symbiosis opportunities between food and energy system: the application of manure based biogas as heat source for greenhouses (in prep.).
Greenhouse systems offer many benefits compared to open‐field agriculture, including supply chain reliability and high crop yields. However they also need energy.
Here, the symbiosis between manure based biogas and greenhouse food production is demonstrated.
From a previous study*, treating available manure in Switzerland through anaerobic digestion could reduce the emission by 346 kt CO
2eq or 1.6% of the remaining Paris agreement targets to mitigate climate change (without considering further substitution effects).
Spatial density of available manure (biogas production potential aggregated over 1 km×1 km pixels distance).
Energy demand for greenhouses with glass cover material for tomato crop.
This approach can be used for other geographical regions, greenhouse sytems, crops and local specificities.
Climate data, Greenhouse
Features, Crop type
Greenhouse energy demand model
Heating demand (MW/ha)
Combined Heat &
Power (CHP) energy conversion model
Available heat (MW)
Energy supply: manure based biogas Energy demand: heat source for greenhouses
Potential greenhouse area
* Burg, V., Bowman, G., Haubensack, M., Baier, U., & Thees, O. (2018). Valorization of an untapped resource: energy and greenhouse gas emissions benefits of converting manure to biogas through anaerobic digestion. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 136 (53‐62).
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030 addressed:
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Potential area
Potential area for greenhouse per km2 with glass cover material and CHP system with thermal efficiency of 45% in Switzerland.
Area‐based glass greenhouse heating demand for tomato crop ranges from 0.98 to 2.67 MW/ha in Switzerland which shows the variety of climates.
The total biogas potential from available manure in Switzerland is 15 PJ, which is hardly used nowadays.
Total greenhouse potential area based on available manure is 109 ha which means e.g. a yield production of 21800 ton/year tomatoes, or 11% of Swiss demand.
The study demonstrates the general feasibility of this symbiosis opportunity in Switzerland.
Farm manure bio‐methane
yield
Available manure resources Pot. Biogas yield (GJ/year)
Base Case: Tomato, Glass Heat demand (MW/ha)
Base Case: Tomato, Glass Potential area (m2)
