A Case Study on the Potentials and Benefits of Biogas : Tanega's Farm Experience / Poblete, Frelie Caragaya.

Include bibliographical references.

This study entitled, "A Case Study on the Potential & Benefiting of Biogas: Tanega's Farm Experience" aimed to give responses to questions whether a biogas plant system of size and magnitude as that of Engr. Tanega's could be utilized for community wide consumption. Two hypotheses has been proposed which postulated that there is no possibility that the experience of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant could be duplicated for a community-wide consumption in terms of H1: as fuel for cooking, and H2: for electrification. Both hypotheses were tested and verified by using mainly documentary analysis provided by the owner of the farm and through direct interviews of the owner and the beneficiaries, personal investigation and on-site inspection of the farm, its operation and the processes involved in biogas production. Through all these activities undertaken, the researcher was able to gather all the needed data to supplement this case study. Specifically, the study was able to describe the profiles of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant from the type of digested, method of feeding the digester and the type of feedstock or waste material used, the amount of biogas that has been produced during the four-year period considered in this study, and the physical properties of biogas. Likewise, it was also able to define the benefits reaped by using biogas in terms of the amount of fuel produced, environmental problem management, and the amount of savings derived out of cooking expenses. The potentials of the use of biogas were also determined in terms of solving the disposal of digestate, mass of organic fertilizer, and increase in the amount of biogas. From the same results of this case study, the researcher has established possibilities for duplication of the experiences in Tanega's farm biogas plant to community-wide consumption and from it has proposed sort of measure for consideration. The statistical tools used to interpret the data were the weighted mean and other computations for the amount of feeds fed to the pigs, the volume of manure, the methane gas equivalent, and amount of equivalent organic fertilizer produced to analyze the capacity of the biogas plant for community-wide consumption based on its records of production. Direct observation was also used for support in discussing relative matters regarding biogas plant to jive the gathered data with the observed condition and production of biogas in the farm. In the light of the findings of the study, the researcher found the following benefits of the Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant: a) It is used as a substitute for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as fuel for cooking. b) It helps in solid waste management sing the management and final disposal of organic wastes is much easier due to their small volume. c) It mitigates the pollution effects of pig slurry since it is reused through biogas instead of damping it to the river system. d) It helps the community in having free gas for cooking, enabling the people to save money. As to the potentials of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant, the following were established: a) The pig wastes and other organic wastes could be used as primary materials for biogas production instead of throwing them, solving the farm's problem in the disposal of animal and plant wastes. b) The biogas plant could be subject as a good example of solid waste management for the whole community for the proper disposal of digestate. c) The biogas farm's solid waste could be used as a valuable source of fertilizer. d) The increase in the amount of biogas could mitigate the problem in high gas/fuel cost in cooking. Based on the analysis of document that the Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant had, it was revealed that the average of monthly and annual pig loads in the farm is still enough, though below 50% of the capacity, to provide volume of manure for biogas production to generate more than enough amount of methane for cooking that it can even be capable of supplying equivalent amount of fuel to more number of households that it currently supplying. This rendered the first hypothesis that there is no possibility that the experiences of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant could be duplicated for community-wide consumption in terms of fuel for cooking was rejected. However, in terms of electrification, the capacity of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant in producing enough biogas for electricity purpose even at maximum loading of pigheads cannot be relied upon because it produce enough electrical power, large amount of biogas will be needed. Thus, it puts into question the capability of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant in term of electrification, rendering the acceptance of the second hypothesis which posited that there is no possibility that the experiences of Tanega's Farm Biogas Plant could be duplicated for a community-wide consumption in terms of electrification.