In Massachusetts, Clean Energy From Manure

It's old news that factory farming is one of the biggest contributors to air, water and land pollution in the United States. In fact, the globe's growing herds of livestock were recently called the single-biggest contributor to global warming by the United Nations: "Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together."

Finding a way to make use of some of that waste would be revolutionary, to say the least.

So when I heard about a new system, known as the "Digester," that uses manure to produce electricity, I was intrigued:

Owned by A Green Energy, an energy cooperative owned by five dairy farmers in Massachusetts, the manure digester sits on 1.5 acres of [Randy] Jordan's farm, with two tanks, a pump and engine, and a separator.

Through the digesting process, the smell of the manure is removed and is used to produce gas, which powers an engine that will generate electricity for the farm. Excess electricity will be sold back to National Grid.

Once the smell is removed, the solid manure will be used for fertilizer, just as it always has been.

Mr. Jordan said the digester will run continuously, and that his 300 mature cows (700 total) produce about 10,000 gallons of manure each day. He also said it takes about six weeks from start-up to produce electricity.

What's more, Mr. Jordan will also be able to process food manufacturing waste in his digester. The project cost roughly $2 million (a combo of loans and grants from USDA and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative) to build and, when fully operational, is expected to provide enough electricity to power 300 homes.

If you're in Rutland, Mass., on May 31, stop by the Jordan farm for a tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Gov. Deval Patrick and other dignitaries are expected to attend.

 

Follow Brian Keane on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SmartPower_org

Comments

[POPE INNOCENT]

09:53 AM on 05/31/2011

Alternative energy is great!

Boycott Land of Lakes

http://farmwars.info/

http://freedomforceinternational.com/

[lilpeg]

09:15 AM on 05/31/2011

I live in the middle of a city. But, I like the idea of all farms doing this and producing their own energy. I also like the idea of this small localized energy producer for the surrounding areas. But, what would their back-up power be? If they go off-line, how do they insure that those 300 homes are still electrified? We have become spoiled by centralized power generation and distribution. Big power companies will not maintain a grid if it is not making them money. So, if the s*

[alvdh1]

12:25 PM on 05/31/2011

It is pretty simple to answer. The excess power is not going directly to a specific set of 300 homes. The power is going into the grid at a rate sufficient to power 300 typical homes. Therefore, everyone remains connected to the grid. If the cow pie to energy machine goes down, the utility will divert power or increase electrical production instaneously. It is commonly referred to as grid management.

[lilpeg]

08:52 AM on 06/01/2011

I still think that the power companies will stand to lose money on propositions like this one and will cease to co-operate and manage the grid. We need to make "alternative energy generation" a boon to their profit margin. Make it something commercially appealing and viable to them, not just in tv commercials. I love this idea though....

[Bellla]

09:35 AM on 05/30/2011

I gotta go talk to this guy! (Rutland is the next town over).
I have designed a biogas digester for my own little farm, but my town won't let me finish it till I get my design vetted by an engineer. So I gotta go talk to Randy and see what he had to do to convince Rutland!

[ais1956]

10:42 AM on 05/29/2011

Using manure to produce methane has been around for a long time. In India the govt. has been promoting "gobar" (cow manure) gas plants in the rural areas which have no electricity. the gas is used for cooking and lighting. In Vietnam the govt. has been promoting small scale (family sized) plants which use pig manure (and human waste) for the same purpose. An additional benefit is that the digested manure is even richer in nitrogen than the raw manure and is a better fertilizer than cow dung.

[Deep Thinking Man]

03:18 AM on 05/29/2011

hhmmm...sounds like an electric compost pile !!!!! a compost pile can made at home, and be made a lot cheaper, and it'll do pretty much all that's listed in this article !!!!!

[Genders]

10:41 PM on 05/28/2011

Cool. You could also get more energy by bio char the digest manure and still get a fertilizer effect by plowing in the char, at least for a few years. Then you can sell the char. 10% of the world's energy could be supplied by human poop alone, so I would think even more from the poop of the animials we eat.

[GoldStarMom]

03:42 PM on 05/28/2011

I'd like to see far more use of existing "waste products" to provide alternative fuel and/or power. It's a win/win situation, as far as I can see.

[POPE INNOCENT]

10:05 AM on 05/31/2011

http://freedomforceinternational.com/

[RRK70]

03:21 PM on 05/28/2011

I've read quite a bit about methane digesters, it's great to make people aware of them as their won't be a single solution to replacing fossil fuels. One might also be able to use the leftover slurry to grow algae for biodiesel to increase the potential efficiency to the process. The one thing I would contest is that this is something "new". Methane digesters have been in use for many decades