Electricity From What Cows Leave Behind

[depakid]

COW POWER Cows at Green Mountain Dairy Farm, right, one of four Vermont farms producing electricity for the power company; and Bill Rowell (far left), one of the owners of the farm, with David Dunn of Central Vermont Public Service and an engine-generator fueled by bio-gas.
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FOR years, the cows at Green Mountain Dairy here produced only milk and manure. But recently they have generated something else: electricity.

The farm is part of a growing alternative energy program that converts the methane gas from cow manure into electricity that is sold to the power utility’s grid.

Central Vermont Public Service, which supplies electricity to 158,000 customers around the state, was among the first utilities in the country to draw electricity from cow manure on dairy farms. About 4,000 utility customers participate by agreeing to pay a premium for the electricity.

“We realized we could help meet a customer demand for renewables, help solve a manure management problem and make these farmers more financially secure,” said Steve Costello, a spokesman for Central Vermont Public Service.

Four Vermont dairy farms are producing electricity for the utility, and two more are expected to be online by year’s end, Mr. Costello said. The utility hopes to add six more farms by 2010.

Residents and businesses that get their electricity from the program pay a premium of 4 cents a kilowatt hour above the typical rate of 12.5 cents. Most of that money goes to the farmers, who must purchase their own equipment, which can run up to $2 million per farm. Most farmers expect to make back their investment in 7 to 10 years.

The brothers who own Green Mountain Dairy, Bill and Brian Rowell, were looking to squeeze more profit from their farm, where they have 1,050 cows and have begun acquiring 600 heifers. Milk prices had dipped and they wanted another source of income.

They also thought that the huge amount of waste their cows produced could be used for something other than fertilizer. So they decided to give electricity a try, armed with about $750,000 in federal, state and utility company grants.

“We saw this as an economic and environmental management tool,” Bill Rowell said. “It’s helped to diversify our farm,” which was named the 2008 Vermont Dairy Farm of the Year.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/businessspecial2/24farmers.html?em

[Aqaba]

1. The problem with this is...

...the amount of energy required to produce and feed the cows. The energy they recover from the cow shit and cow farts is a pittance compared to what it takes to grow them in the first place.

[Nihil]

2. Even if it doesn't make money from feeding the grid ...

... it is still *saving* them money for their own power and, as it
is being recovered from stuff that is not only waste but *polluting*
waste at the moment, it is still a win-win for the farm.

(There are a few small dairy farms near me that are doing this.)

[AlecBGreen]

3. right on

proper grazing techniques require less energy, less fossil fuels, less fertilizer and less start-up costs. In addition they return a higher net profit, build soil fertility, and strengthen local communities & economies. The pros of proper grazing far outweigh the beenfits of CAFO and dairies with manure lagoons.

Im glad they're using methane to make electricity, but why not take a step back and examine the whole system? Why are manure lagoons and industrial dairies necessary? The answer is: THEY'RE NOT.