2008 Woodie Awards
UNH turning dirty waste into clean energy
Melanie Graham
Issue date: 11/21/06 Section: News
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Cow poop has never seemed so clean.
Last week, Green Mountain College, a small school located in the western part of Vermont, began running half of its electricity on methane gas extracted from cow manure.
Using manure from surrounding farms, this process produces only 40 percent carbon dioxide, a significantly less amount than the burning of fossil fuels.
However, Green Mountain was not alone on the development of manure power; more than 10 years ago, the University of New Hampshire began a similar procedure, paving the way for colleges like Green Mountain.
Many years back, UNH installed a large insulated silo, as well as a series of pumps and pipes to store, move, and heat cow manure in the university's dairy farm. Through a process of anaerobic digestion, methane was extracted from the manure.
Anaerobic digestion, a big word for a small process, simply means that the manure is mixed with water and heated to produce bacteria and gas. Pipes and pumps then siphon off the gas to be used later in furnaces or generators.
Heat and electricity, however, are not the only products of this procedure. Other usages include nutrient-rich fertilizer, as well as smell reduction for stored manure.
At UNH, the smell reduction was the main purpose for the manure processor. Although there were hopes and plans for a methane-gas generator, the university would not allow funding for it.
Upon hearing the news of the Vermont school's success, Professor Charles Schwab of UNH's animal and nutritional sciences department, expressed his "disappointment" in the lack of support at UNH for a process like this.
"It's excellent technology, and it makes perfect sense," stated Schwab. He went on to explain that UNH's 100-cow scale was too small at the time to produce enough manure to power a generator.
"500 cows, on the other hand, would pay for itself," Schwab claimed.
The Vermont plant has managed to herd nearly 1,500 cattle for the manure production process. The college stated that they have plans for 12 more farms to hop on by 2010.
Last week, Green Mountain College, a small school located in the western part of Vermont, began running half of its electricity on methane gas extracted from cow manure.
Using manure from surrounding farms, this process produces only 40 percent carbon dioxide, a significantly less amount than the burning of fossil fuels.
However, Green Mountain was not alone on the development of manure power; more than 10 years ago, the University of New Hampshire began a similar procedure, paving the way for colleges like Green Mountain.
Many years back, UNH installed a large insulated silo, as well as a series of pumps and pipes to store, move, and heat cow manure in the university's dairy farm. Through a process of anaerobic digestion, methane was extracted from the manure.
Anaerobic digestion, a big word for a small process, simply means that the manure is mixed with water and heated to produce bacteria and gas. Pipes and pumps then siphon off the gas to be used later in furnaces or generators.
Heat and electricity, however, are not the only products of this procedure. Other usages include nutrient-rich fertilizer, as well as smell reduction for stored manure.
At UNH, the smell reduction was the main purpose for the manure processor. Although there were hopes and plans for a methane-gas generator, the university would not allow funding for it.
Upon hearing the news of the Vermont school's success, Professor Charles Schwab of UNH's animal and nutritional sciences department, expressed his "disappointment" in the lack of support at UNH for a process like this.
"It's excellent technology, and it makes perfect sense," stated Schwab. He went on to explain that UNH's 100-cow scale was too small at the time to produce enough manure to power a generator.
"500 cows, on the other hand, would pay for itself," Schwab claimed.
The Vermont plant has managed to herd nearly 1,500 cattle for the manure production process. The college stated that they have plans for 12 more farms to hop on by 2010.
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