Agripharm hopes to offset energy consumption with biogas

Peter Miller told Clearview Township council Monday he hopes to offset the energy needs of his marijuana production facility with a 500-kilowatt anaerobic digester that would convert biogas to renewable electrical energy.

Miller said the facility, Agripharm, uses a lot of electricity and the plan is to offset that energy consumption with the biogas facility using animal waste from his family’s dairy operation and other sources. Both the dairy farm and marijuana facility are located at Cashtown Corners.

“We are looking at ways of reducing the environmental impact,” said Miller.

The application will be made to the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program.

“We are very early in this process and we thought it would be best to speak to the community first in case there were any concerns,” said Miller. “This is good for the environment and very exciting for us.”

It was explained that manure goes into the 40 foot, self-enclosed, insulated steel container and is converted to methane. The by-product is a liquid fertilizer that can be used on fields and inside the marijuana growth facility and is even more efficient as a fertilizer than manure.

Miller said he will be asking for council support as they go through the FIT application process, with PlanET Biogas Solutions.