Proceedings - Biomass South 2008

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Dr. Rich Vetter, President, Agri-BioSystems, Inc.

Dr. Vetter is the President of Agri-BioSystems, Inc. and is a consultant in agricultural wastes technologies specializing in anaerobic digestion and biogas utilization, processing, and value-added products. He has more than 30 years experience, both domestically and internationally, in animal physiology research. He spent 16 years as a Professor of Animal Science at Iowa State University and 18 years as the Director of Research and Development at A.O. Smith Harvistore. He has also worked in research, design, development, and evaluation of anaerobic digester systems for more than 30 years. Rich has over 300 publications in the areas of animal physiology and anaerobic digestion systems.

Notes:

• Poultry/swine waste – methane recovery for use on site
• Co-generation is key – have the utility company buy back the energy
• Wisconsin Anaerobic Digester Study (7 years):
  • 20 + dairies with digesters
  • 700-3000 cow operation
  • dairy farms receive some of the highest grant funding NRCS (because good infrastructure support w/ state/DNR/CC’s)
  • Example:
    • $1.1 million anaerobic digester co-generation system for 900 cow dairy produces roughly 4.5Kw/hour/cow plus $10 / cow for carbon credits
    • grossed about $70,000 income from co-gen and carbon credits. 
    • This resulted in ~ 6.5 year payback on investment where it normally would have taken ~10 years payback.
    • Number 1 concern – the investment HAS to contribute to profitability of producer.

Summary:

• Animal Digester has a good fit for WI dairy farmers
• Ultimate success is owner’s commitment to making it work – must be economical for them
• Will large centralized methane production work? – transportation costs kill the idea
• Will farm residues with high amounts of solids work? – not do-able for anaerobic digestion
• Best bet for high solids – ie wood is gasification or burning
• The owner is the key to success on the farm
• To keep system running must have good material handling
• Need nearby technical services for support to system as they go in

Thanks to Sarah Ashton, Rachel Cook, Lindsey Hannum, James Jeuck, Liwei Lin, James McCarter, Susan McIntyre, and Mark Megalos for providing notes and summaries for presentations.