Posted on 05/05/2008 10:28:51 PM PDT by Fred
RUTLAND— If everything works as well as projected, the Jordan Dairy Farm may one day make money from its manure as well as from its milk.
A three-month feasibility study at the farm concluded that an on-site anaerobic digester and generator would produce sufficient energy to cover the farm’s monthly electric bill of $2,400.
Carbon credits and green energy credits, which are required by state law for Massachusetts electric utilities, may make the digester profitable for the farm, if enough energy is generated to sell to the power company.
As a result of the study, the Massachusetts Dairy Energy group, applied for and received $322,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Renewable Energy Trust to fund the cost of the digester. The Renewable Energy Trust also funded the feasibility study, which began in December.
Jordan Dairy Farm, which has taken a leadership role in MADE, will receive the digester and become a demonstration and educational facility for the other participating farms. Randy E. Jordan, who co-owns the farm with his brother Brian, said MADE intends to lobby for and assist other MADE members in obtaining grants for renewable energy as well.
Mr. Jordan said he was very grateful that his farm was selected to receive the grant and digester.
The digester works by harvesting the methane gas in the manure and running the gas through a generator that uses methane to produce electricity. The manure’s composition remains unchanged after going through the digester.
A byproduct of the process is heat, which may be able to be used to heat greenhouses and buildings.
Mr. Jordan said he will be processing only cow manure, although another farm in Western Massachusetts is looking at using other waste products. At least initially, he will process only the manure generated on his farm.
Mr. Jordan estimated the start-up costs for the anaerobic digester and methane generator to be as much as $1 million. To help fund the balance of the start-up costs, he is looking for other grants with matching funds.
“We’re still not sure how long the payback period is,” Mr. Jordan said. “It’s multiple years. Without grants, most farms can’t do something like this.”
Mr. Jordan said he is still working out the details of the grant with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, including when installation of the digester will begin. Even so, he is looking forward to seeing it happen.
“This is something I’ve dreamt about for four or five years,” he said. “Things have changed considerably since I first started thinking about this. There are green credits and carbon credits, which makes it very positive for Massachusetts.”
If the digester design is good and you have enough cows/hogs, these are probably the most profitable and dependable form of alternative energy out there. Our partnership is putting together such a project together in the Midwest and the numbers are good.
There I was driving down the road when the engine started sputtering and quit. Yup, out of fuel. Fortunately I had my Oklahoma credit card and there was a renewable energy source just standing there, After a bit of a chase and more of a struggle I got the hose inserted in the proper downpipe and started to siphon....
++++
Hillary and Obama were in a boat going down the river.
The river was extremely rough.
The boat capsized.
Both were lost! :-{ (really ;-})
Who was saved?
AMERICA
I wonder if the evirowhackos know that methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 and that burning methane will produce CO2.
There may be some use for presidential campaign speeches and Al Gore’s bellowings after all!
This is cool, at first glance.
But if everybody does this, will we end up with a serious crop problem because we burned up all the fertilizer?
Are we essentially taking important nutrients out of the soil and burning them off?
Or are they still recoverable after the burning process, with only the carbon being released?
This is a form of solar power. Plants suck C02 out of the air, and give us oxygen. Animals eat the plants, and poop out the carbon, and we burn it, putting it back into the air.
So long as we don’t lose other important soil parts in the process.
I saw a Dirty Jobs over the weekend with a cow farm using something like this, they were energy self-sufficient, and claimed they were the greenest dairy farm on the planet.
I wasn’t paying much attention. While this group says they just suck out the methane, I don’t remember if the other farm burned the actual waste product or not. They claimed the manure was still good for fertilizer — I’m guessing this group’s is if they are simply capturing the methane that would have bled off anyway.
The scam continues.
Actually the effluent that comes out of the digester is better because it’s not as acidic and incorporates into the soil faster.
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