A new technical report is available that examines the how anaerobic digesters, which capture methane and produce a biogas that can be used to generate electricity or sold as a renewable natural gas, could affect the profitability of US swine farms. The study details the energy prices and carbon payments that may be required to incentivize the construction of anaerobic digesters on swine operations. The authors find energy prices have a relatively small effect on the profitability of anaerobic digester projects, though the projects influence the optimal choice of biogas end use; whereas, carbon payments for the methane reductions from anaerobic digesters could be a strong determinant in farm-level decisions to install anaerobic digesters.
The full report is available at https://www.card.iastate.edu/products/publications/synopsis/?p=1410.