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Digester Technology May Save Money On Electricity, Hearing
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a year in energy costs. He said it’s a
better than 30 percent return on
investment, and would install a
digester even if he had only IS
cows.
Subsidies aren’t needed
Waybright, who spoke as part of
a digester owner panel, told the
more than ISO farmers, ag industry
representatives, and government
officials present that the technolo
gy has been available for years,
and that huge subsidies aren’t
needed for manure digesters to be
installed on farms today.
Waybright said that, in this reg
ion, because of the cold winters,
about 70 percent of the methane
gas generated from a manure
digesterhas to be used to heat the
manure to a temperature of 10S
degrees in order for the methane
gas to continue to be generated.
While only 30 percent of the gas
remains, the amount is still suffi
cient to drive a generator, from
which not only energy to defray
the cost of electricity, but heat can
directly be used.
Benefit tremendously
Swine and chicken house opera
tions could benefit tremendously
from such a device, according to
James Kauffman, a poultry pro
ducer from White Horse. A well
maintained digester could save
immediately on energy bills alone,
because farmers would pay that
much less in energy bills.
Kauffman told those at the con
ference that the biggest expense
outside of the farm mortgage is
electricity and fuel utilization. But
producers already have the free
resources to generate that power.
“I don’t think that we find that
the energy companies over here
are really pushing the idea that we
should use energy on our farm
that’s free and available to us.” he
said. “They generally like to sell
us electricity and sell us fuel.”
Small Scale Digester
Inlet
4,
PLUG FLOW DIGESTER
Fresh
manure
This illustration shows how a simple underground digester, top, Is used in China.
Manure Is fed Into the Inlet chamber into the bln, where methane gas Is generated and
collected at the top. The outlet area to the right Is where the effluent is removed. At the
bottom, an above-ground digester collects the methane In a bubble, where it is drawn
out and used. The technology is similar In both cases.
Odor concerns
But what drove the swine opera
tion of Harlan Keener, who oper
ates a 600-sow farrow-to-finish
farm just three “air” miles south
of Lancaster, was mostly concern
with odor. There, Keener installed
a 35,000-gallon digester which,
when completed, cost about
$225,000, and needed an addition
al $lOO,OOO in modifications. But
he said he generates millions of
BTUs per day out of the hog waste.
Keener’s operation generates
enough electricity that not only can
he use it to power and heat his own
farm, but he sells energy back to
the utility. While it costs him 6
cents a kilowatt hour to purchase
the electricity from the utility, the
utility buys it from him at 2.38
cents a kilowatt hour.
He said that if a farmer is serious
enough about how he invests his
money, he will make the digester
work. For Keener, it has paid in
terms of keeping good relations
with the neighbors and kept his
business free from odor lawsuits.
Works well
George Hurst, owner of Oregon
Dairy Farm, Lititz, said he
installed an underground digester
on his farm in 1983. He said he can
generate about 30-50 kilowatts/
hour on his 300-cow operation. He
spent $120,000 on the digester,
and noted it works well on his
farm.
Stan Weeks, Agway Farm
Research Center, installed a diges
ter on the 250-cow research farm
in Syracuse in 1981. The digesters
are installed in vertical tanks, all
poured concrete. The research cen
ter has helped install more diges
ters on research farms in other
states since 1983, including the
University of Maine and Universi
ty of New Hampshire, all with
great success. There is a proposal
to install one in the USDA Belts
ville office to study odor control.
Chinese Digester
v^>
one day’s
manure
Large-Scale
North American Digester
~ '’•j ~
Govemmentagencieswereonhandtoofferthelrviewsof jestertc .nol
ogy. From loft, Yuan Halying, ag attache from China; Larry Lentz, Center for Rural Pen
nsylvania; Michael Voorhles, U.S. Dept, of Energy; Phillip Lusk, U.S. Dept, of Energy;
Tim Murphy, USDA SCS; and Johan Berger, DER. Standing fs Leon Ressler, Lancaster
environmental I.
A group v more* . half a century of experience with digesters wu
assembled at a panal during tha On-Farm Blogaa Production Conference in New Hol
land on Wednesday. From left, Harlan Keener, Rocky Knoll Farm; Stan Weeks, Agway
Farm Research Center; George Hurst, Oregon Dairy Farm; and Richard Waybrlght,
Mason-Dixon Farms.
outlet assembly
biogas to gas usage
O
Environmental concerns
While research at various uni
versities has been pointing out the
benefits of using the inexpensive
resources of manure digestion
since the 19705, and research was
compiled extensively in the early
1980 s, studies of manure digesters
have fallen off because of environ
mental concerns, not energy.
Out the panelists pointed out
that environmental concerns are
driving new impetus into ways to
handle manure, with the concern
over Pennsylvania’s new nutrient
management law, and because of
expanding urban zones near farms.
Those concerns are heating up
the debate over the usefulness of
digester technology. And as the
nutrient management legislation
will create more need for manure
holding areas, those areas will be
prime areas for methane
generation.
With that comes the odor prob
lem, especially for covered tanks.
Could digesters be built easily and
inexpensively, and would energy
cost benefits accrue if more far
mers grasped the technology?
Digested
manure
Other agencies, particularly the
Environmental Protection Agen
cy, the Department of Energy, and
USOA have expressed interest in
methane digester research, accord
ing to Tim Murphy of the Soil
Conservation Service (SCS). In
October this year, a memo was
signed by all the agencies under
AgSTAR Program
the umbrella AgSTAR program to
promote and encourage ways to
obtain energy from a system such
as a manure digester for pollution
prevention. They have proposed a
study which involves adding
another staff person for SCS to
study biogns for three years to help
draw up plan! for digesters which
farmers could utilize.
Money to more folly understand
biogas and manure digestion may
be available if the Clinton Admi
nistration’s environmental direc
tives package passes. Part of the
plan involves Action 38. according
to Michael Voorhies, U.S. Depart
ment of Energy, who spoke on an
“agencies views on biogas”
panel. That action would dedicate
$l9 million, or about $3 million a
year until the next decade, to bring
the technology, of biogas energy to
the forefront.
Right now. no agencies want to
commit money to help fanners
build a digester. But money and
resources, under AgSTAR, will go
to developing computer software
to help fanners make use of the
technology.
Johan Berger, Department of
Environmental Resources (DER).
said the department, which admi
nisters the Chesapeake Bay Prog
ram, will provide some advance
ment in financial assistance from
an educational standpoint.
‘Harass Foundation’
Dr. Richard Fite, USDA veter
inary medical officer, said the key
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