麻豆传媒

The early evening sun blazes across the plush green pastures of H酶jvanggaard. The day is drawing to a close, but for the Egegaard-Nielsen family, work never really stops.

Each day at this dairy farm in south-west Denmark, 1,100 cows produce around 37,000 litres of milk. Keeping this hungry herd well-nourished places demand on the land, where crops are grown for feed.

Cows with such healthy appetites create a lot of dung. The unmistakable scent of the countryside hangs in the air as a chevron-shaped piece of machinery gathers up thick, wet layers of animal waste from the barn floor.

In that waste lies a great deal of opportunity. The International Energy Agency estimates that biogas, produced by turning organic material such as cow manure into renewable energy, has the potential to meet 20% of today鈥檚 global demand for the fossil-fuel version, natural gas.

鈥淔or many years we would collect the cow dung, store it and then scatter it across the land as fertiliser,鈥� says J酶rgen Egegaard Nielsen, who runs H酶jvanggaard farm with his son Kasper and brother Jesper.

That changed just over a decade ago, when one of Europe鈥檚 largest producers of biomethane, Nature Energy, asked the family to supply agricultural waste to its plant in nearby Holsted.

Nature Energy processes the agricultural waste to produce biomethane, a low-carbon fuel which can be used for cooking, heating homes, and powering trucks and ships.

If the cow dung had been spread on the fields as used to be the established practice at the H酶jvanggaard farm, its decay would have released methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). By collecting this waste and using it to create biomethane, the farm is able to reduce its own GHG emissions.

H酶jvanggaard is just one example of the hundreds of farms working with Nature Energy, a company now owned by Shell, which owns and operates 13 plants in Denmark and one in the Netherlands, with more in development.

Every day, hundreds of tonnes of biological waste 鈥� from farm slurry to banana skins鈥� arrive at its facilities. It is treated then fed into towering cylindrical digesters heated to just above 50藲C.

Digesters work like giant mechanical stomachs, breaking down bacteria in an oxygen-free environment over a 30-day period to produce raw biogas. In a separate upgrading unit, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are removed to produce biomethane. As it is chemically identical to natural gas, biomethane can be injected straight into Denmark鈥檚 gas grid.

Leftover solid matter sinks to the bottom of the tank, leaving a residual product which is delivered back to farms to be used as a nutrient-rich organic fertiliser. As the process releases much of the gas compounds which cause waste to smell, the fertiliser is almost odourless.

鈥淧lants can more easily absorb it, and we have found it is better for the crops,鈥� Kasper says.

鈥淚t smells much better, too.鈥�

In Denmark, biomethane has become a pillar of the domestic energy system, which made up 33% of domestic gas production in 2022, according to the Danish Energy Agency.

The European Union has launched plans to emulate that success in other countries, with a target to increase biomethane production more than ten-fold by 2030 by providing better access to grants and loans, funding innovation, and encouraging member states to adopt national strategies.

鈥淭his is an exciting time for the industry. We see biomethane as a key renewable fuel and Shell has been at the forefront of developing the market through supporting producers and connecting them with customers,鈥� says Sinead Lynch, who runs Shell鈥檚 low-carbon fuels business.

鈥淣ow, we鈥檙e entering a new phase of being a major producer.鈥�

The European Biogas Association, the trade body, says there are 1,322 biomethane-producing facilities in Europe today. It estimates that an additional 5,000 medium- to large-sized plants capable of processing different forms of waste will be needed over the next seven years to meet the EU鈥檚 target.

First, the industry must obtain permits for those facilities, and proposals can face opposition from nearby communities.

When Nature Energy announced plans for a new facility in K酶ng, on the south-east coast of Zealand island in Denmark, businesswoman Yvette Espersen campaigned against it.

鈥淚 researched the problems neighbours had experienced, such as extra traffic, spills leading to bad smells and effects on the countryside,鈥� says Yvette.

鈥淭here has not been any more inconvenience and the plant is not as smelly as its reputation suggested it would be, but it is a very large industrial building and will affect the way people view where you live.

鈥淟ocal councils should look to locate them near motorways, or in industrial areas, instead of the countryside of small rural villages.鈥�

Nature Energy鈥檚 policy is to work closely with residents and local authorities when planning a plant like the one in K酶ng. The company says it receives very few, if any, complaints once a plant is in operation.

As farms provide a constant, sustainable source of biological waste and materials, Nature Energy aims to build strong relationships with many more agricultural communities as it expands.

Its ties with the Egegaard-Nielsen family provide a blueprint for the future. Farming can be unpredictable, but a reliable supply of high-quality fertiliser and a way of reducing methane emissions removes some of the volatility, giving J酶rgen, Jesper and Kasper more time to focus on the day to day demands of running a dairy farm.

Back at H酶jvanggaard, remaining remnants of dung are scraped from the shed floor as J酶rgen speaks of his own plans for expansion.

鈥淲hen I first started in 1994, I had 60 cows here, but we鈥檙e going to have 1,500 once we鈥檝e built our new shed,鈥� he says.

He is keen to get on with the future, and there鈥檚 no time to waste.