Alternative Energy Production and Untilization on Farms - A Workshop

Alternative Energy Production and Untilization on Farms - A Workshop

Summary

A second workshop was conducted for the renewable energy production on May 7^th through May 9^th 2013. This time, the workshop was hosted at two locations to maximize the exposure of the participants to several alternative energy productions. Busby farm at Lincoln University and the South farm at University of Missouri-Columbia. There were different speakers and participants from the previous workshop. The workshop included presentations, demonstrations, and visits to bioreactors, aquaculture facility, manure management facility and solar energy harvesting. The participants were asked to fill out a survey to determine the level if increase of knowledge in those different areas. The overall participation and feedback from participants were excellent.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The main objective of this project was to design and offer two workshops, each of three days’ duration, on the role of alternative energy in sustainable agriculture. The specific objective is to educate farmers’ educators about the utilization of solar energy and the production and utilization of biogas on the farm.

Accomplishments/Milestones

1. The installation of a pilot scale anaerobic digestion system and solar heating and a photovoltaic system were completed and were operated. This anaerobic digester has a total volume of 165 gallon. It was used as teaching and demonstration tool. The system has been operating at mesophilic conditions (35oC) to treat animal manure. The system is mixed with liquid recirculation through three nozzles that are installed in the reactor bottom. The digester is connected to a vacuum tube solar heating system to provide the thermal energy needed to operate the system. A temperature controller is installed in the digester. A water pump is installed to provide hot water from the solar heating system to the digester. The system has a timer to control the operation of the water and recirculation pumps. The system has a data logger to monitor the temperature in different points on the system. A photovoltaic system was also installed as a model for teaching and training purposes. An inverter and batteries set were purchased and connected to the photovoltaic system. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the main component of solar-heating anaerobic digester.
2. The offering of the second workshop. The second workshop was held successfully Tuesday, May 7^th through Thursday May the 9^th, 2013, Carver Farm 3804 Bald Hill Road, Jefferson City, Missouri and MU Bradford and South Farm at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Twenty five farmer educators from Missouri attended the workshop. In addition to the PI and Co-PI’S, twelve speakers from different universities, anaerobic digestion industry and Department of Natural Resources were invited to give lecture and demonstration about various topics such as anaerobic digestion, solar energy, and wind energy. Table (1) shows the topics addressed during the workshop and the name of presenters and their affiliation. As shown in Table (1), during the first two days of the workshop several lectures were given. On the third day, there was a field trip to Busby farm at Lincoln University and the MU Bradford and South Farm Research and Extension Centers at University of Missouri-Columbia. Moreover, demonstrations and hands-on experiences on solar heating, composting, photovoltaic anaerobic digestion, and biomass pyrolysis were also presented on the third day.

• Figure 1
• Table 1
• Knowledge gain before and after

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

The invited speakers and trainers had shared the importance of application of alternative energy resources in realizing sustainable agriculture was disseminated via presenting the theoretical knowledge and applied examples. The environmental and economic benefits of biogas and solar energy were presented to the participants who will o out and share that knowledge with the end users. Participants will be able to teach farmers about anaerobic digestion and solar energy systems. They will also be able to teach farmers about biogas project permitting issues.

Collaborators: