Megawatt closed loop bio-farming operation in process

[Fledermaus]

On June 5, 2009, Alders and King, with the support of an investment group, broke ground in Leona, Texas, to build the first cellulose biogas plant in the United States. This history-in-the-making, green business venture is quickly launching Alders and King into megawatt stardom in the farming industry....

In the 2002 Ag Census, over 21 million acres in Texas were listed as cropland, but were not being harvested. For economic reasons, many farmers had let their fields go fallow and then grazed livestock on them....

“These plants are often called a ‘concrete cow,’” Smith explains. “The process mimics a cow’s digestive system. They take in the food source, the bacteria breaks down the cellulose and produces biomethane.”....

On average, each acre of sorghum will produce 12 tons. The extra acres in production will provide for crop rotation and two years of feedstock stored at all times. The silage will be stored in silos at the plant site where they will steadily feed the “concrete cow” in the non-stop production process....

“This is a landmark project for the United States and the ag industry,” states NRCS Texas State Conservationist Don Gohmert. “This has the potential to revitalize agriculture as millions of acres that could no longer produce profitable commodity crops, now have a new opportunity for income.”

“And the entire process is based on very sound soil, water and crop production practices,” he adds.

Smith says that because the organic matter is there, strip tillage methods work well for farmers to plant the sorghum in the fallowed land. It maintains organic matter, saves them time and money, and helps conserve soil moisture.

The greenhouse gasses emitted in the process will be offset by their capture and all of the byproducts produced in the process will go back into the cycle or utilized offsite. The CO2 that results in burning the biomethane will be captured, and, along with the introduced nutrients, including poultry litter, will be used to grow algae, which will produce biodiesel. The biodiesel will then go back to the farmers raising the crops.

The digestion production process uses no water, but because on average, silage is 67 percent moisture, water is a byproduct. This water, with valuable minerals and nutrients left in the digestate, is applied back to the land. Storm runoff water is also captured and utilized for plant sanitation and fire prevention. There are opportunities to capture other byproducts, such as heat, and use it to heat water for hospitals, prisons and other facilities.

The original plan was to establish one plant, then expand the operation to include five plants in the area. However, when investors saw the impact and potential for the operation, that number grew quickly to 50 plants in central Texas. Based on the expected revenue from this first plant, an economic analysis using the Regional Industry Multiplier System, predicts an additional 137 jobs and 14 businesses will be created in the economic region from this project.

http://southwestfarmpress.com/energy/biogas-plant-0721/

[JohnWxy]

1. I missed this. would have recommended.

what caught my eye was this:

"In the 2002 Ag Census, over 21 million acres in Texas were listed as cropland, but were not being harvested. For economic reasons, many farmers had let their fields go fallow and then grazed livestock on them...."

[NNadir]

2. Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it. We've had the ethanol industry for years failing to explain

how come Iowa still imports oil.

[Nederland]

3. This is different

This is privately funded. If it doesn't work, they will pull the plug, unlike government run operations that refuse to die despite years of failure.

[Fledermaus]

4. Gosh, ethanol has nothing to do with the original post.

Unless, perhaps you have been drinking some ethanol.

[madokie]

6. I think that pretty much explains a lot

of the ignorant shit I read from the big guy. Flat ass don't know when to stop

:think:

[kristopher]

5. Interesting, but something is missing

17,200 tons of sorghum @ 12 ton/acre = 1433 acres.

How much fuel is required to farm 1433 acres? A paper I found from 1995 on sorghum production in Texas puts the figure at:
6.88 gal of diesel/acre = 9860 gallons @ 138,000btu/gal = 1,360,680,000 btu
3.16 gal of gasoline/acre = 4559 gallons @ 124,000 btu/gal = 565,316,000 btu
2.24 thousand cubic feet of natgas/acre = 3,232,000 ft^3 @ 1028/ft^3 = 3,322,496,000

The total cost per acre (excluding 1995 government subsidies) to farm sorghum in Texas was $183 per planted acre.
total for 1443 acres = $264,000 (in 1995 dollars at 1995 energy prices)


1MW nameplate generator @ 85% capacity factor = 1 x 8760 hours/yr x .85 = 7,446,000 kwh/yr

1 kwh = 3412 btu

7,446,000 kwh x 3412 = 25,405,752,000 btu

1,360,680,000
565,316,000
3,322,496,000
_____________
5,248,492,000 btu input (strictly for the farming side of the operation)

25,405,752,000 btu output (strictly for the electricity)

The algae portion of the operation is a large unknown, but since the power plant heat would be used to dry the algae, the final total might end up better than the above numbers indicate.

My next question would be does the farm have to be a part of this? I'd like to see this compared to the same basic plan oriented around existing waste streams such as the manure and organics in urban garbage.


Just for perspective (6) 2MW wind turbines (about the number you could put on 1443 acres) operating at 33% CF would produce:
2MW x 8760 = 17,520MW x .33cf = 5,781,000 kw/yr/turbine x 6 turbines = 34,689,000 kwh/yr = appx 118,396,400,000 btu

The carbon payback for the turbines is about 4 months.