Farm Looking To Turn Manure Into Energy
Cow Produces 100 Pounds Of Manure Every Day
POSTED: 7:51 pm EST February 17, 2010
UPDATED: 8:03 pm EST February 17, 2010
WOODSTOCK, Conn. -- Both Putnam and Woodstock are supporting an effort by Fairvue Farms to turn cow manure into energy.
With upwards of 750 cows, Fairvue Farms generates a lot of manure. Every day, one cow produces 100 pounds of manure every day.
The plan is to attract public and private financing to build the system that draws the methane out of the manure.
The system collects the manure in a sealed tank where it is then heated by hot water, releasing the methane gas, which is piped into a generator to produce energy.
The solids that are left over by the manure can be turned into fertilizer, and the heat released would be used -- as heat.
Presently, Fairvue recycles its manure as fertilizer and organic bedding for the cows. Converting it into heat and electricity, however would be a 21st century application for a material that's been around forever.
If everything falls into place, the operation could be up and running in a few years.
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Then I wonder if a 750-cow farm makes good sense, in terms of land use, health, environment, etc. Obviously the Millers have a lot of sunk costs -- I don't know how easily they could change their business model -- but at arms length, as a citizen or town manager of some sort, I'd want to think through our priorities separately and see if they jive with the Millers' plans.
There's a long discussion on biogas here: http://anz.theoildrum.com/node/3633
Quite long, with interesting tangents, some kernels of wisdom, and a bit of the usual online mudslinging. On the whole the discussion is supportive of biogas as a good way to produce energy locally.
And a little data from Cornell here:
http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpag...