A chicken farm in Greater Kaohsiung on Saturday launched a renewable energy facility that uses biogas collected from manure produced by about 500,000 chickens, to generate up to 16,800 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity every day.
Shih An Farm’s facility, which cost NT$400 million (US$12.65 million) to build, comprises a gas storage tank and three fermentation tanks.
The chicken manure is sent to a pool for disintegration and desanding, before being sent to anaerobic fermentation tanks, where it undergoes a gas storage process separating methane — used for electricity generation — from liquid compost, used for farming.
Photo: Chen Yu-cheng, Taipei Times
Farm administrators said that they imported the facility in 2012. The facility conforms to an EU directive that governs the protection of farmed animals, which raises layer chickens in a more ethical manner, they added.
The farm has eight 125m-by-10m hatcheries each containing more than 60,000 chickens, which lay between 400,000 and 500,000 eggs every day and pass 80 tonnes of manure, which is troublesome to handle, they said, adding that “to avoid wasting resources, we purchased the facility.”
Farm general manager Hsieh Wen-feng (謝文峰) said that the animal husbandry industry should take an active part in the movement to curb global warming.
He said that the electricity produced from chicken manure every day is enough to cover the energy consumption of about 1,700 households. The system also helps the farm avoid an annual cost of NT$3.2 million to dispose of the manure, Hsieh said.
Other “green” practices adopted by the farm include an array of solar panels covering the hatcheries’ roofs, with each building capable of generating 45,000kWh of electricity annually.
The solar energy the panels generate is be more than enough to power farm operations and the excess is expected to be sold to state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), Hsieh said.
Farm business manager Hsieh Chien-fen (謝倩芬) said that the liquid compost derived from chicken manure amounts to 213 tonnes daily and can be used to replace chemical compost to grow flowers, fruit and vegetables, which helps the farm achieve eco-friendly farming and a sustainable economy.
She said that the farm plans to join forces with the technology sector and compost manufacturers to create a niche market in farming applications.
At the facility’s opening ceremony, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) said that he hopes the nation’s animal husbandry sector would follow in Shih An’s footsteps.
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