“We believe it is important and we also see great benefits with biogas. And there are always new opportunities to expand,” says farmer Tom Birgersson, who is also an alumnus of Linköping University where he studied Chemical Biology.
Took over
Agriculture and biogas are a good match. The business has grown steadily since the Birgersson family took over the farm in 2008. With more than 600 cows, the volume of manure is considerable, but they now also collect substrate from nearby farms. Tom Birgersson gives a tour of the facility, where they have repeatedly doubled their capacity, from four to twenty‑four gigawatt hours in a decade. And they continue to set new goals.
“We believe we will soon reach twenty‑seven gigawatt hours per year,” says Tom Birgersson.
They depend on being able to distribute and sell the gas, which is compressed but not liquefied. The region’s investment in biogas vehicles has of course helped. To reduce transport to and from the farm, they have installed an underground pipeline to their nearest filling station in central Målilla. The other stations are located in Vimmerby, Hultsfred, Eksjö and Högsby.
The future
“The investment by the regional public transport authority has been crucial for us. The trend towards electrification is naturally worrying, but it simply means that we may need to find other customers, possibly further afield,” says Tom Birgersson.
He sees a clear future for biogas but stresses that it requires continuous improvements and that investment support programmes such as Klimatklivet are essential.
“It is difficult to start this kind of operation without support. We already have manure and food waste. But we can use these resources to produce energy and fertiliser in as many ways as possible. This is becoming increasingly important in society as we begin to think more about sustainability, preparedness and self‑sufficiency,” says Tom Birgersson.
