Green power from the farmyard

Biogas plants generate clean power from liquid manure and dung and avoid methane emissions.

The project supported by Swiss Post reduces climate-polluting greenhouse gases and promotes the use of renewable energy for power and heat. On traditional farms, the climate-polluting greenhouse gas methane escapes unchecked into the atmosphere due to the storage of liquid manure and dung. With the help of biogas plants, clean energy can be generated on farms in Switzerland. To this end, methane is collected in gas-tight containers and utilised in a block heat and power plant. Farm fertiliser is a valuable biomass energy carrier, which is used efficiently thanks to this project. Local and regional jobs are created and the value added remains in the rural area.

Green benefit

The project significantly reduces the highly climate-polluting greenhouse gas methane by using biogas plants on farms. It also allows the use of farm dung as a biomass energy carrier: renewable energies for power and heat are promoted. The biomass remaining in biogas plants after fermentation is a high-quality fertiliser and odours are also reduced.

Local energy generation supplements farming and cattle breeding without jeopardising the utilisation of and care for cultivated landscapes. Another benefit of biogas plants lies in the use of waste heat. This allows heating stables, flats, or greenhouses, for instance, or feeding the energy generated into a heating network.

Commercial benefit

The project supports the operators of biogas plants with a range of between 50 and 400 kilowatts of installed electric capacity. The input of biogas plants consists to at least 80 per cent of farm fertiliser, i.e. liquid manure and dung. The additional revenues from the sale of CO2 reduction certificates make a profitable operation of the plants possible in the first place.

The project also promotes the technical enhancement of gas-tight biogas plants with its focus on climate protection.

Social benefit

The project increases the share of renewable energy in the power mix in Switzerland. Innovative projects like this one create new jobs at local biomass suppliers or at companies that build, operate and maintain biogas plants. And what is more: the engine waste heat from the block heat and power plant provides a reliable and calculable source of heat. The entire value-added chain can thereby be kept in the rural area. The biogas plants supported are located throughout Switzerland.