Economic Feasibility of Anaerobic Digesters with Swine Operations

In the U.S., anaerobic digestion systems are rarely adopted because large construction costs make them economically infeasible for most animal feeding operations. However, limited research is available on the application of these technologies on swine farms. Net present values were calculated to compare the economic feasibility of anaerobic digestion systems and covered lagoons under different output, co-product, and government policy scenarios. Results seem to indicate that with no government intervention, the lower-cost covered lagoon systems were more economically feasible than the complete mix and plug flow anaerobic digestion systems.