Biogas production from the specialized dairy farming and porcine subsectors in Antioquia, Colombia: Theoretical and technical-energy potential approach

In developing countries, residual biomass usage by means of anaerobic digestion offers several benefits and opportunities, such as a sustainable energy source, production of organic fertilizers and new agrobusiness models. In Latin America, Colombia is one of the most promising markets for the implementation of this technology in terms of availability of biomass and economic growth, as recently reported by local government organizations. In this paper, special attention is given to Antioquia, a department of Colombia with the largest farms of cattle and pigs, according to information reported in 2018 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is estimated that manure from the porcine subsector in Antioquia has an approximate technical-energy potential of 1,896 TJ year-1, varying from 1,611 to 2,186 TJ year-1, corresponding to the 95% confidence interval. In the case of manure generated by the livestock subsector in Antioquia, it is estimated a theoretical energy potential of 8,566 TJ year-1. However, traditional extensive production systems disseminate manure through the pastures turning centralization of the available residual biomass a difficult task and not senseful. Based on the local practices of the specialized dairy subsector, it is estimated that manure collected during the milking process could reached up to 25% of the total available. Biochemical conversion of this amount of biomass has an estimated technical-energy potential of 187 TJ year-1, varying from 156 and 236 TJ year-1, corresponding to the 95% confidence. The aim of this article is to estimate the technical-energy potential for the livestock and porcine subsectors in the Department of Antioquia, based on the available residual biomass according to local farming practices.