Got Manure? Enhancing Environmental and Economic Sustainability

Tour of Cayuga County Soil and Water Regional Digester

• The Cayuga County Soil and Water Regional Digester is a newly constructed centralized anaerobic digester system located in Auburn. The facility was built to process manure from nearby dairy farms, food waste, and waste fats from local sources. The project has a generation capacity of 625 kilowatts and produces 25 tons/day of post-digestion separated solids and 31,000 gallons/day of separated liquid. The combined heat and power system powers the district campus buildings and excess power is exported to the grid. The anaerobic digester system is an aboveground mesophilic “hydraulic-mix” system that features blending without internal moving parts, an integrated sediment removal system, and fully automated operation.
• Review PRO-DAIRY's updated case study (PDF) (8 pp, 281K) for more information.
• USDA-Rural Development hosted a press event with AgSTAR and local/state representatives to celebrate the grand opening.
• AgSTAR and its co-hosts would like to thank the following people for making the site tour a success:
  Tim Seeler, Seeler Engineering
  Kaymar Zadeh, Blue Electron
  Ronald Podolak, Cayuga County Soil & Water Conservation District
  Mike Riley, Cayuga County Soil & Water Conservation District

Tour of Patterson Dairy Digester

• Patterson Dairy Farms, Inc., a family farm for the past seven generations, is located in Auburn. The farm commissioned RCM International, LLC to develop an anaerobic digester system in 2005 to minimize the odor from farm operations and to take advantage of the combined heat and power that would be produced. The digester is a 1.2 million gallon mixed digester with a hydraulic retention time designed to be approximately 20 days, based on manure from more than 1,000 dairy cows and co-digestion of food waste.
• Review PRO-DAIRY’s updated case study (PDF) (10 pp, 397K) for more information.
• AgSTAR and its co-hosts would like to thank the following people for making the site tour a success:
  Jon Patterson, Patterson Dairy
  Connie Patterson, Patterson Dairy

Tour of Synergy Dairy Digester

• CH4 Biogas, LLC formed Synergy Biogas, LLC to own and operate an anaerobic digester system located at Synergy Dairy in Covington. The digester, designed by Bigadan A/S, has an effective capacity of 2.2 million gallons. Biogas from the digester fuels a 1.4 megawatt GE-Jenbacher engine-generator set. The electricity produced is used onsite to power the farm and additional power is sold to the local grid. The project became operational at the end of 2011.
• Review PRO-DAIRY's updated case study (PDF) (8 pp, 380K) for more information.
• AgSTAR and its co-hosts would like to thank the following people for making the site tour a success:
  Paul Toretta, CH4 Biogas
  Randy Mastin, CH4 Biogas
  Lauren Toretta, CH4 Biogas
  Chris Noble, Linwood Management/Synergy Dairy
  John Rudgers, Linwood Management/Synergy Dairy

Carbon Management Workshop: the Business Case for Manure Digesters: Presentations from the Climate Action Reserve's workshop are available.

Cows, Manure, People, Money, and the Environment
Moderator: Joe Kramer, Energy Center of Wisconsin

• Anaerobic Digestion: The Cornerstone of an Integrated Dairy Manure Handling and Treatment System, Curt Gooch, Cornell University PRO-DAIRY (PDF) (48 pp, 10 MB)
• Reintegrating Dairy Farms and Communities, Dean Doornink, Jon-De Farm (PDF) (31 pp, 5 MB)
• Anaerobic Digestion in Europe: Lessons Learned and Future Direction, Kurt Hjort-Gregersen, AgroTech (PDF) (29 pp, 742K)

Integrated Manure Treatment System Operator Panel
Moderator: Curt Gooch, Cornell PRO-DAIRY

• Dean Doornink, Jon-De Farm
• John Jacobs, Green Valley Dairy
• Steve Reinford, Reinford Farm
• Greg Rejman, Sunnyside Farms
• Bill Rowell, Green Mountain Dairy

Integrated Manure Management System Planning
Moderator: Peter Wright, NRCS

• Update on Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Standards, Peter Wright, NRCS (PDF) (6 pp, 514K)
• The Impact of Dairy Housing and Manure Management on Anaerobic Digestion, Dana Kirk, Michigan State University (PDF) (17 pp, 1 MB)
• Manure Collection and Transfer Systems in Livestock Operations with Digesters, Andy Lenkaitis, GEA Houle, Inc.
• Sand Laden Manure - Transfer and Storage, Jessica Skinner, JESS Engineering (PDF) (44 pp, 9 MB)
• Sand-Manure Separation for Anaerobic Digestion Pretreatment, Andrew Wedel, McLanahan Corporation (PDF) (22 pp, 1.5 MB)

Co-Digestion: Role and Impacts
Moderator: Bruce Bailey, quasar energy group

• Overview of Permitting Requirements for Co-Digestion, Allison Costa, AgSTAR (PDF) (8 pp, 691K)
• Source Separated Food Waste Flow to Farm Digesters, Nora Goldstein, BioCycle (PDF) (23 pp, 5 MB)
• Opportunities for Co-Digestion of Biodegradable Plastic with Manure, Tim Zauche, University of Wisconsin - Platteville (PDF) (23 pp, 1.5 MB)
• Dairy Cattle Mortality Management via Anaerobic Digestion, John H. Martin, Jr., Tetra Tech, Inc. (PDF) (26 pp, 500K)
• Experience with Three On-Farm Anaerobic Digester Systems Using Additional Off-farm Organic Substrates, Stan Weeks, Stanley A. Weeks, LLC (PDF) (26 pp, 4 MB)

American Biogas Council Meeting

• Conference attendees heard updates from the organization on its initiatives and got the opportunity to network.

Economics of Manure Handling/Treatment/Utilization Systems
Moderator: Garth Boyd, Camco

• Importance of Quality Feasibility Studies: A WI Case Study, Patrick Ries, Asset Resource Management LLC (PDF) (28 pp, 4 MB)
• Economic Analysis for Handling/Treatment/Utilization Systems, Bob Joblin, AgPower Group (PDF) (18 pp, 111K)
• Development and Application of an Economic Anaerobic Digester Optimization (ADOPT) Model, J. Shannon Neibergs, Washington State University (PDF) (22 pp, 2 MB)

Biogas Utilization
Moderator: Michael Mitariten, Guild Associates, Inc.

• Biogas Composition and Cleanup Options, Norma McDonald, Organic Waste Systems, Inc. (PDF) (47 pp, 13 MB)
• Emissions from Biogas Powered Equipment, Dawn Chianese, Environcorp (PDF) (13 pp, 552K)

Track 1: Advanced Manure Treatment
Moderator: Jeff Porter, NRCS

• Overview of Nitrogen Removal Technologies and Application/Use of Associated End Products, Morton Orentlicher, Resources from Waste: Management & Engineering (PDF) (16 pp, 291K)
• Commercial Demonstration of Nutrient Recovery of Ammonium Sulfate and Phosphorus Rich Fines from AD Effluent, Steve Dvorak, DVO Inc. & Craig Frear, Washington State University (PDF) (22 pp, 2 MB)

Track 2: Small Scale Anaerobic Digestion
Moderator: Dave Dunn, Central Vermont Public Service

• Small-Scale Anaerobic Digestion in the United States: Design Options and Financial Viability, Stephanie Lansing, University of Maryland (PDF) (34 pp, 5 MB)
• Estimating Farm Size Required to Economically Justify Anaerobic Digestion of Small Dairy Farm Manure, Tim Shelford, Cornell University PRO-DAIRY (PDF) (27 pp, 842K)

Making the News Rather than Being in the News
Moderator: Grant Grinstead, Northern Biogas LLC

• Reducing Risk of Entry into Confined Space Manure Storages, Dennis Murphy, Pennsylvania State University (PDF) (27 pp, 750K)
• An Integrated Approach to Anaerobic Digester Management, Rodrigo Labatut, Cornell University PRO-DAIRY (PDF) (21 pp, 1 MB)
• Promoting On-Farm Anaerobic Digestion through Media Outlets, Jenny Pronto, Cornell University PRO-DAIRY & Beth Meyer, American Dairy Association & Dairy Council, Inc. (PDF) (22 pp, 5 MB)

Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Policy on Anaerobic Digestion
Moderator: Rick Stowell, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

• The Business Case for Greenhouse Gas Management with Digester Projects, Scott Hernandez, Climate Action Reserve (PDF) (24 pp, 1 MB)
• GHG Policy Impacts on the Financial Feasibility of AD Systems, Brent Gloy, Purdue University (PDF) (27 pp, 982K)

Conference Wrap-Up
Moderator: Jerry Bingold, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy

• Challenges and Opportunities: Advancements towards Widespread Adoption of On-Farm Digestion, Mike McCloskey, Fair Oaks Dairy Farms and Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy (PDF) (16 pp, 2 MB)