Berrybank Farm - Methane to Energy Project

Berrybank Farm - Methane to Energy Project is a waste management and emissions avoidance project located in Windermere, Victoria, approximately 15 kilometers west of the regional city of Ballarat. Registered in March 2015, the project is situated within a mixed-farming region on the Victorian Volcanic Plain, an area historically characterized by grazing, cropping, and intensive animal husbandry. The project operates on the Charles family's property, a large-scale piggery operation that has integrated significant cropping and grazing activities over its history.

The project utilizes the "Destruction of Methane from Piggeries using Engineered Biodigesters" methodology. In standard piggery operations, manure is often stored in open anaerobic lagoons, where it decomposes and releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas, directly into the atmosphere. This project replaces or supplements those lagoons with engineered biodigesters. These sealed vessels capture the biogas generated during manure decomposition. The captured gas is then combusted, typically to generate electricity and heat, thereby converting the methane into less harmful carbon dioxide and creating a renewable energy source for the farm.

Environmentally, the Windermere region experiences a temperate climate with distinct wet winters and dry summers, typical of Western Victoria. The soils in this area are predominantly derived from the expansive basalt flows of the volcanic plains, resulting in heavy clay and clay-loam soil types (often classified as Vertosols or Sodosols). These soils are fertile but can be prone to waterlogging in winter and cracking in summer.

A notable aspect of the Berrybank Farm project is its status as a pioneer in Australian agricultural sustainability. While the ACCU project was registered in 2015 to participate in the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF), the Charles family installed their first commercial-scale biodigester much earlier, making it one of the first of its kind in the Australian pig industry. The system not only generates electricity to power the farm and export to the grid but also produces a nutrient-rich, odourless digestate used as fertilizer for the property's crops, creating a circular economy model. The project successfully completed its carbon abatement contract (CAC102330) with the Australian Government in 2022.