Posted on 10/26/2004 1:38:49 PM PDT by Calpernia
An innovative project will convert it into electricity and heat at a Lucan farm.
LUCAN -- Brown power is the latest thing down on the farm. And it was touted here yesterday as good for the environment, good for the rural economy and a promising new source of electricity for Ontario.
The provincial government has chipped in $1.6 million toward a renewable energy facility that will convert manure into heat and electricity at a large cattle operation north of Lucan.
The 5,500 head of beef cattle at the Lynn cattle farm will produce 7,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, of which 2,500 will be used by the Municipality of North Middlesex.
It will become Canada's first green-powered municipality, said Agriculture Minister Steve Peters, on hand for the announcement along with Energy Minister Dwight Duncan.
"This is the type of innovation this province needs more of," said Peters, MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London.
"The government of Ontario is firmly behind this project."
Duncan said he hopes the project at the Lynn farm will "lead the way" for similar projects that can be adapted to smaller cattle operations.
"Renewable energy from the farm is going to be an important part of this province's energy supply," said the energy minister.
Duncan added Ontario has pressing demands for new sources of electricity in the next few decades.
The power-from-manure facility will see the waste from cattle produce methane gas and electricity, while the solid material becomes a fertilizer without the contaminated runoff problems from manure.
Partners in the project include the federal Agriculture and Natural Resources departments, Trent University, the Ontario Cattle Feeders' Association and the Agricultural Adaptation Council.
Farmer Philip Lynn said the family had originally planned to create wetlands and a program of spreading manure during winter months.
But after the Walkerton water tragedy, where the municipal water supply was contaminated by runoff from a livestock operation, regulations came into effect that prompted Lynn to consider this innovative solution.
Lynn's cattle operation lies next to a tributary of the Ausable River. With the energy-from-manure plan, he no longer will spread manure on his 1,136-hectare farm.
The biogas project will produce its first electricity in March and be fully operational a year later. It will power the farm operation, with the surplus shipped to Hydro One.
The operation will create three full-time jobs, produce 9,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer each year and reduce farm odours 80 per cent, officials said.
Wes Hodgson, mayor of North Middlesex, said his municipality will buy 2,500 megawatts of electricity a year at a reduced rate to light, heat and cool all municipal buildings.
Negotiations are still underway with Hydro One, which will distribute the Lynn farm electricity, he said, so he can't estimate the savings for taxpayers.
Nils Semmler, president of Rentec Technologies Inc., developed new technology to convert the manure into an energy source.
He said smaller operations can employ the same technology to harness manure for power.
Unlike the wind or the sun, he said, manure can be a steady and predictable source of renewable power.
Would this only work with cattle manure? What is different about cattle manure vs. let's say swine?
ping
or human ?
Pig poop is more acidic I believe. That's why its mainly used for making methanol.
Dog, cat, rabbit, human.
Just think, I could open a poop stand!
Ok, seriously though, this is interesting!
I think that's the last place I wanna be. Better to be in front and up wind.
http://www.rentec.ca/
They can digest any kind of excretia.
This process could power all of DC....imagine all the poop flying around there!
Can you imagine the possibilities? There's enough manure over at the RAT headquarters to supply America's power for 20 years.
Local farmers can become the power producers of tomorrow, providing high-quality, clean and renewable energy from materials (for example, manure, crop waste) that would otherwise be wasted or cause environmental problems. Buying farm-grown power is also an important way to support your local farmer and help protect agricultural land from sprawl. It’s a classic win-win that benefits farmers, the local economy and the environment.
This really sounds great!
Didn't these projects bomb in California?
I don't think so. I think, but would have to research, that they are mostly used for power by the ranches themselves. Extra is sold to power companies. Not real sure though.
No bullsh!t and the lights go out!
I thought this was going to be thread about the latest Democratic tactics.
i propose that we donate kerry and edwards as fuel
living in ohio, i am sure glad that most winds are either from the south or the west around here.
I think in India they use a device that uses BIOMASS for fuel. It is a tub that you can throw all kinds of waste in. Stand by...
Fibrowatt is the first in the world to succeed in turning poultry litter into electricity.
http://www.fibrowattusa.com/US-Corporate/index.html
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