Feedstock is not just raw material – it’s your fuel, your margin, and increasingly, your highest cost. The market prices of food waste, agricultural residues, and energy crops have been rising, and operators are being squeezed to extract more value from their feedstocks.
Imagine being able to achieve the same gas yield from lower feedstock – or boost biogas yields without altering your input material? That’s what CreChar helps with.
“We’ll Just Add More Feedstock” – The Typical Reaction
Based on our experience working with AD operators, this is a common reaction – “we don’t need additives to boost biogas yield – we’ll just add more material to the digester.”
That is a good point. If you can obtain cheap, stable feedstock and you have spare capacity in the system, then adding more input will definitely increase production of gas. But suppose you can’t?
Many plants are already running close to their feedstock or volumetric capacity. In these cases, there’s simply no room to add more, and the only way to grow output is to get more from what you’re already using.
Others rely on low-value or variable-quality feedstocks – affordable, yes, but not particularly energy-dense. CreChar helps extract more energy from these materials, improving gas yields without switching to more expensive inputs.
And even if capacity is not an issue at the moment, rising gate fees, new waste contracts, or green specifications may force operators to look for more efficient, future-proof solutions.
CreChar is not about replacing your feedstock strategy – it’s about improving it, getting more energy per tonne, and introducing resilience to your process.
The Pressure on Feedstock Sourcing
Throughout the UK and Europe, AD operators are feeling the squeeze:
- Food waste gate charges are restricting
- Agricultural residues are in demand elsewhere (composting, bedding, bio-based products)
- Feedstocks derived from crops have price volatility and sustainability issues
At the same time, contracts and revenue streams depend on stable or growing gas production. This leads many operators to question: How do we get more out of what we already have?
Digestion Efficiency – Simplified
Anaerobic digestion relies upon an advanced microbial community that breaks down organic material and converts it into biogas. All feedstock is not digested equally, though.
The major issues include:
- Substrate complexity (certain materials resist degradation)
- Inhibitory compounds like ammonia or acids
- Microbial limitations (not enough diversity or robustness)
Even in highly optimised systems, some of the energy potential within the feedstock is untapped – typically because the microbes are stressed, or conversion is inefficient.
CreChar: Enhancing the Efficiency of Every Batch
CreChar is a biochar additive designed to help microbes perform better and accelerate the rate of feedstock conversion in AD systems.
How it assists:
- Stabilises the microbial environment – reducing process stress caused by feedstock fluctuation and inhibitors like; ammonia and H2S
- Encourages microbial diversity and activity, especially methanogens
- Provides a porous surface for microbial colonisation, improving their efficiency
- Buffers inhibitors that slow digestion and maintains stable operations when making rapid feedstock changes or introducing a completely new feedstock
The result:
Greater biogas per tonne of feedstock, and stronger digestion even in spite of feedstock constraints.
Applications in the Real World:
- Implement CreChar within your process and reap more energy from what you are already processing. The first movers have achieved 10%+ improvement in biogas yield and 3%+ in methane concentration depending on substrate type and reactor conditions.
- If you are working with tighter supply of feedstocks, CreChar will help maintain gas production at a higher level even with reduced input, by increased efficiency of digestion.
- Thousands of pounds in added income or avoided feedstock cost, depending on your operation
And this is done without new equipment, without changing feedstock supply chains, and without extending retention time!
In Summary
With feedstock prices rising and pressure to maximise output increasing, CreChar offers a low-disruption, common-sense solution to get the most out of every tonne that enters your digester. Whether you have to protect margins, reduce reliance on volatile feedstock markets, or simply get more out of less, this is the additive that pays back its cost.
For further information on Crechar® and other services from Carbogenics please contact:
Lidia Krzynowek: (COO and Co-Founder)
lidia.krzynowek@carbogenics.com
