Re: DIG-L: Fwd: dry coffee from pig manure

[CAVM@aol.com]

We are working on a plan for a project in Mexico that has an anaerobic 
digester operating with hog manure.  The methane can be used to power a 
diesel gen set and the waste heat will be used in the digester and in heating 
water for cleaning purposes on the farm.

The reason I bring this up is that the sale of the electricity is the 
deciding factor for us in methane production as to whether the system is 
economically viable.  Therefore, we have modified our plan so that we install 
a small soybean meal plant onsite to buy the surplus power at retail. It 
provides power to the soybean meal plant, produces needed meal for the hogs, 
and sells the power from the digester. It seems like a workable relationship.

Of course other inputs besides hog manure can be used and this scenario still 
be viable since soybean meal, cotton seed meal, and other such feed 
ingredients can all be processed using the same equipment and provide needed 
feed stuffs locally.  Dairy manure input means that there are dairy cows that 
need the feed.  Fish effluent and fish processing waste, or chicken litter 
and chicken processing waste indicate other uses for the meal produced in the 
plant.

Even if sugarcane or other plant residue is used to make the methane, the 
electricity produced could still be used to make feed for the local market.  
Being able to find a market at or near retail for the power produced can make 
an anaerobic system become economically viable in the USA or anywhere else.

Regards,

Cornelius A. Van Milligen
Iowa Protein Inc.
CAVM@AOL.com
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