A start-up is working on a new way for farmers to make money from waste, by developing an affordable and small-scale anaerobic digester system which can be scaled to any size of dairy farm.
Whereas anaerobic digesters – which ferment organic matter to produce biogas for heat and power generation – are well established in the industry, systems are often too costly and high-maintenance for most family farms.
BioFactory's Micro AD Farm system is designed to fit alongside slurry management process, diverting raw material into the reactor and processing it, before releasing back to slurry storage tanks.
Each system utilises anaerobic digestion, accelerating the breakdown of organic material. Through this process, BioFactory's systems capture and process the biogas, converting it to useful renewable energy for on-farm use.
The Somerset-based start-up has been working with agri-tech experts at the Agri-EPI Centre to develop and refine their system with a view to bringing it to the market.
Agri-EPI Centre have helped BioFactory access funding, provided technical assistance, and introduced them to potential funders to help them scale their product and sell it to dairy producers.
Having won funding from Innovate UK and Defra for a 12-month feasibility study via the Farming Innovation Programme, BioFactory are now raising working capital to commercialise the company fully.
Jon Blake, chief commercial officer at BioFactory, said: “If you’re a dairy farmer, you will always have slurry, but we can help turn it into an asset rather than a by-product.
"There is nothing to say that we can’t resolve farming’s impact on the environment as well. Our ethos is to build something simple and reliable for the dairy farmer.
"Our units are 40’-long shipping containers and easily scaled; if you want to increase your herd, you can simply add another reactor.
“We were so lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Our young company had been waylaid by Covid-19 when we came across a pot of funding for developing technology to help with net zero targets. "
Charlie Bowyer, business development manager at Agri-EPI Centre, said commercial AD systems were 'simply out of reach' for most dairy farms due to capital and operational costs.
“Working with young companies like BioFactory is Agri-EPI Centre’s bread and butter; helping them develop a good idea into a successful business and providing solutions to farmers at the same time.”
