Capturing biogas from covered anaerobic lagoons (CALs) provides a valuable fuel source and greatly reduces carbon emissions. This project aimed to increase knowledge on the start-up and normal operating performance of covered anaerobic lagoons (CAL) so as encourage their uptake by the red meat industry.

CAL performance was assessed by intensive monitoring of the 2.7 ML CAL at JBS Australia’s King Island facility for 7 months from commissioning. The CAL started up successfully and showed steady state operation within 6 months. The results show biogas production and quality was affected significantly by many factors. One of the measures used to successfully gauge the health of the CAL was the ratio of volatile fatty acids to total
alkalinity. There is a wealth of valuable insight in this report.