Noblehurst Farms

» See our response to public comments on this project

Noblehurst Farms is one of the first digester projects in the state of New York. The project reduces greenhouse gases through three means: destruction of methane from dairy operations; generation of clean energy; and energy efficiency improvements through on-farm generation of heat.

Prior to the project, the manure on this 1,300-cow facility was applied to fields daily. Several years ago, the management decided that a new approach to manure management was needed. Both open lagoons and a closed digester system were considered. In open lagoons, manure decomposes anaerobically, releasing large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. In a digester system, manure is instead fed into three large tanks where the methane is captured and used for energy production.

TerraPass funds will ensure an adequate financial return for the digester project and satisfy expectations project developers had about the voluntary carbon market supporting the project.

This project meets the Chicago Climate Exchange offset protocol standards.

Project details

Noblehurst Farms is a small dairy farm of about 1,300 head located in rural New York. The farm is widely recognized for its progressive management and innovative approaches to modern farming. The farm digester is cited as one of several forward-looking initiatives.

Noblehurst Farms has been in the Noble family since the mid 1800s. John Noble, the president of the farm, is a graduate of Cornell University and heads a group of twenty family and non-family community members who manage the farm. Noble and his Linwood Management Group also help oversee the management of a number of other local farms to provide high-quality, professional management to smaller family farms in the area.

Noblehurst’s herd is housed in double free-stall barns and milked in a 22-position parallel milking parlor. Manure is collected with a scrape system and was previously field applied via a daily spread system. In the new system the manure is diluted to 10% solids with digester effluent.

The anaerobic digester is a concrete plug flow system. The twin tank in-ground set-up measures 120 x 50 x 16 feet. Waste is retained in the digester for approximately 25 days and is estimated to produce 72,000 cubic feet of biogas per day. The biogas, which is estimated to be 60% methane, is fed to a combined heat and power system using a Caterpillar 2406NA gas turbine with a nameplate capacity of 130kW. Heat is captured via a hot water system. The project also has an open backup flare.

The following is a detailed diagram of the project setup:

Source: http://www.enerview.com/ny/noblehurstfarm.asp

The project is part of a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority combined heat and power monitoring program and, as such, maintains excellent records on system performance.

Development of the project reduces greenhouse gas emissions — in this case, methane — which would otherwise have been released from open anaerobic lagoons. The methane is destroyed by combustion in the generators. The project further reduces greenhouse gas emissions by replacing local electricity with clean energy produced on-site and exported back to the grid. Finally, the project replaces fossil fuel-based heating with captured heat from the generator system.

Project location

The project is located in Linwood, NY, midway between Buffalo and Rochester.

Other social and environmental benefits and costs

Environmental benefits

• Improvement in air quality (e.g., VOC reductions).
• Elimination of odor in surrounding areas, improving living standards both on the farm and in the neighboring communities.
• Creation of organic, largely pathogen-free nutrients for use as fertilizer.

Social benefits

• Local employment for construction related to the project, installation of equipment, and operation of the project.
• Increased energy independence for the farming sector. This manifests itself both in longer-term low energy costs (extending beyond the crediting period), as well as reduced exposure to price risks in energy markets.
• Continued operation of a community-owned dairy farm by improving its economic well-being.

Project’s ability to foster further greenhouse gas emission reductions

• Noblehurst Farms is known for its novel management structure and progressive approach to environmental stewardship. The adoption of a digester at Noblehurst may encourage other local farms to follow suit.
• The project is sized to accommodate moderate expansion in the size of the farm.

Project’s environmental and social costs

• The project required construction of a new digester, along with associated consumption of energy-intensive goods such as concrete and steel.
• The project’s engine emits small amounts of emissions typical of a back-up gas generator.

Discussion of appropriate use of TerraPass funds

The project is an ideal candidate for TerraPass funds, as carbon revenues clearly were a decisive factor in helping a project that significantly and permanently reduces greenhouse gas emissions achieve a modest financial return.

TerraPass considers many aspects of a project before deciding whether to fund it. Here is a summary of key considerations for this project:

Baseline conditions

Before the installation of a digester, Noblehurst Farms managed manure much like many other diaries in the U.S.: they applied it to their fields every day. Several years ago, the management decided that continuing to field apply their manure was no longer an environmentally responsible management option and decided to construct a liquid manure management system. Both open lagoons and a closed digester system were considered and carbon offsets helped to make the digester system financially feasible.

Additionality

No regulatory requirements. There are no state, federal, or local regulations requiring the dairy to manage its manure in this manner.

US based anaerobic digester based projects are widely accepted as additional by analysis of their aggregate economics and adoption profiles. This project meets the eligibility criteria of all the following performance standard protocols: EPA Climate Leaders, California Climate Action Registry, and CCX Offset Protocol. The project has been verified against the standards of the CCX Offset Protocol. At the time of the project launch, there were approximately 60 dairy digesters in operation in the U.S., out of a total of about 92,000 dairies.¹

Barriers to implementation. This project is one of the first digesters in the state and as such faced early market and technology barriers. Other alternatives open to the facility, such as continuing daily spread or the construction of open lagoons, were not prevented by these barriers. We have not been made aware of any reasons that continuing operations would face any legal or permit barriers.

Impact of TerraPass funds. A review of the project’s economic modeling prior to operation showed expected carbon offset revenues at the time of launch, and the magnitude of carbon offset revenues significantly contributes to making the project economically feasible compared with other investment alternatives.

Better than most. TerraPass seeks projects where the operations have shown good practices and avoided substantial negative impacts. Noblehurst Farms is a well-run dairy with good community relations and a community-based management system. The project is part of a NY State research project on combined heat and power and should help contribute to further uptake of these technologies in the state.

1. Climate Leaders Draft Offset Protocol, October 2006.