Popular Mechanics has posted an article interviewing dairy farmer Shawn Saylor. Saylor describes the multiple benefits of the anarobic biodigester system he installed. I've always thought that there was an archetype of a small, savvy, independent citizen-farmer at the heart of the image of a pragmatic can-do attitude of America. It's great to see that showing in the article.
The digester system is fundamentally improving Saylor's bottom line dairy finances while providing a number of side benefits. For example, on the finance side, the digester provides electric, heat, and fertilizer. It makes him money by offsetting his electric bill, fuel for heat, in addition to putting electric back into the grid. Incidentally, it also reduces the dairy manure waste stream into the watershed while also diverting a lot of gases which would otherwise enter the atmosphere driving global climate change. I am speculating a little here on the overall benefit - the gases are still burnt, generating carbon dioxide, but I'm guessing that's less harmful that methane going directly into the atmosphere. The electricity put back into the grid would offset other carbon sources that would have been used anyway for the farm and his neighbors...
This installation was helped by a government grant partially offsetting the cost of the system. To me this is a great example of how government should be involved in accelerating common sense green technologies. Or in economic terms, reducing the cost of social externalities while improving the efficiency of businesses. The cost of the grant is offset by the long term efficiency in the dairy business which benefits the government in improved long term tax base.
(article from Popular Mechanics, Creative Commons photo from Flickr user foxypar4)
1 comments:
I'm the Inventor of a light weight, extremely frugal and efficient, variable compression, Tri-Brid, Green engine with direct energy recovery and it is directly compatible with braking energy capture for automotive use.
It can be easily retro - fitted to existing Gas Guzzlers as well as to new vehicles.
Fitting ultra efficient engines to new vehicles ONLY stops things getting worse. Cheaply upgrading existing stock REDUCES the current unsustainable levels of green house gasses.
Variable compression allows my engine to run on virtually any gaseous or liquid fuel inc' Bio Digester gas or Petro-Chem waste gas. Because of the novel way this engine works it is very tolerant to corrosive and dirty fuels so there is far less done time for maintenance and oil changes.
We can all produce our own Organic Waste Gas from a simple bio-digester, my engine will convert this gas, cleanly and cheaply into mechanical and electrical power .
Most people think if it sounds too good to be true then it is. Well not this time, I'm not a crank just an ordinary engineer with an idea too big for me to handle on my own.
I'm looking for a serious industrial partner to help bring it to market.
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