Researchers in Colombia have found a new use for one of the dairy industry’s messiest by-products. Whey, mixed with cattle manure, is now powering a cheese farm’s production line.
The project, run by Miguel Casallas at the University of La Sabana, is based in Ubaté, Colombia’s second-largest cheese-producing region. There, every kilogram of cheese leaves behind about nine kilograms of whey. Left untreated, that liquid seeps into rivers and soil, threatening a region built on dairy farming.
Casallas and his team wanted to turn that waste into something useful. They tested over 100 sample combinations before landing on a mix of 65 percent whey and 35 percent cattle manure. The blend went into an eight-cubic-metre pilot biodigester, where microorganisms broke it down without oxygen. After a three-month stabilisation period, the system began producing biogas.
That gas now meets the farm’s entire propane demand for cheese-making, and it also heats housing for on-site workers. Together, the fossil fuel savings and the reduction in waterway pollution have cut the farm’s cheese-production carbon footprint by 43.6 percent.
The process leaves behind a residue called biol. It is not concentrated enough to count as fertiliser, researchers say, but it works well as a soil improver on grazing land. Farmers using it have cut their inorganic fertiliser use, including urea, by as much as 50 percent, saving an estimated $410 a month.
Still, the team is cautious about scaling the approach too quickly. Every farm is different. Temperature, feedstock quality, cattle diet and other variables all shift the results. Casallas said each site needs its own assessment before a biodigester like this one can be built there.
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