New USDA Energy Website
Posted on April 25, 2012
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In January 2012, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the launch of a USDA energy website. This new website gives stakeholders and other interested parties access to USDA energy efficiency and renewable energy data, including anaerobic digester projects. This is done in part through new Web-based tools:
• The Energy Investments Map, an interactive map that shows users where USDA is providing investment support for renewable and sustainable energy initiatives.
• The Renewable Energy Tool, which helps users identify renewable energy opportunities by providing information on land use for producing biomass and energy crops, state and federal policy, and USDA guidelines for financial assistance.
• Energy Matrix, a website created to help users find alternative and affordable energy solutions, funding for projects, or available programs and program information.
Source: USDA, “Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Streamlines Access to Energy Investment Information at USDA,” January 18, 2012.
Note: American Biogas Council produced an interactive diagram of the process biogas goes through after it leaves the digester.
Wisconsin Sustainable Planting and Harvest Guidelines for Nonforest Biomass
Posted on November 29, 2011
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Interest in bioenergy is increasing in response to concerns about energy security, energy independence, and environmental and climate impacts associated with use of non-renewable energy resources. The expansion
of the biomass energy industry has the potential to benefit Wisconsin’s water resources, wildlife habitat, and agricultural sectors by reducing erosion, providing a market for materials removed during habitat man-agement activities, expanding markets for agricultural products, creating jobs and reducing reliance on non-renewable fuels.
The development of science-based voluntary guidelines, which can be found in this 98-page publication, in advance of widespread biomass planting and harvesting in Wisconsin is intended to help ensure sustainability of and, whenever possible, provide a benefit to the natural resources of the state. These voluntary guidelines will help users make informed decisions about bioenergy production on both public and private lands throughout Wisconsin and help inform policy decisions for future emerging bioenergy programs. Download the report. . .
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to establish an on-farm biogas research facility
Posted on August 30, 2011
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Wisconsin’s largest dairy farm will be home to one of Wisconsin’s most dynamic research, renewable energy production and public education facilities as part of an initiative involving the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s College of Letters and Science and UW Oshkosh Foundation.
On Aug. 24, the UW Oshkosh Foundation Board of Directors unanimously endorsed a proposal to pursue an innovative partnership with Milk Source’s Rosendale Dairy and renewable energy companies Viessmann Group and BIOFerm Energy Systems of Madison.
The proposal calls for construction of a large, wet anaerobic biodigester/biogas production facility at the Pickett dairy site. The plant would use the farm’s livestock manure to make energy. It would also operate as a dynamic, collaborative UW Oshkosh student-and-faculty biosolids research and teaching laboratory with an attached public education center. Read more. . .
The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin: 2011 Strategic Plan Report
Posted on April 17, 2011
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This report, which is available as a pdf download (5 MB), was developed by the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative, which was created in 2007 by the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Click here to download the report: The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin: 2011 Strategic Plan
The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin, April 28, 2011, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Posted on April 14, 2011
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The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin: 2011 Strategic Plan Briefing and Next Steps
The Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI) invites you to a policy briefing on the findings of three major studies on the biogas to energy opportunities for our state and the Midwest region. The meeting will highlight the release of “The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin: 2011 Strategic Plan.”
Participants will organize plans to take some of the strategic plan recommendations and form working committees to implement the ideas.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union, Madison Room
The meeting is free and open to the public and will include lunch. RSVP is required by April 22, 2011. Register now.
Agenda: Joe Kramer from the Energy Center of Wisconsin will present the “Great Lakes Region Food Industry Biogas Casebook.” There will be presentations on the findings of two reports, “The Biogas Opportunity in Wisconsin: 2011 Strategic Plan” and the “Got Gas? An Analysis of Wisconsin’s Biogas Opportunity” CHANGE-IGERT Capstone program paper.
The remainder of the day will be large and small group sessions to form working committees and divide up next steps projects. ??For more information about the meeting agenda please contact: Gary Radloff.
View parking information. View map.
About WBI: The Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI) seeks to cultivate bioenergy expertise among UW-Madison, UW-System and Wisconsin stakeholders to anchor the innovative research that is being conducted within our great state. We are a university-based coalition that helps the talent across Wisconsin create, commercialize and promote bio-based solutions.
NREL publication examines Feed-in Tariffs in promoting renewable energy
Posted on January 30, 2011
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewalbe Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, published a report in July 2010 on Feed-in tariffs (FITs)—considered to be one of the most widely used policies in the world for accelerating renewable energy (RE) deployment. FITs accounti for a greater share of RE development than either tax incentives or renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies (REN21 2009).
In total, FITs are responsible for approximately 75% of global PV and 45% of global wind deployment (Deutsche Bank 2010). Countries such as Germany, in particular, have demonstrated that FITs can be used as a powerful policy tool to drive RE deployment and help meet combined energy security and emissions reductions objectives (Germany BMU 2007). Download report: A Policymaker’s Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policy Design.
Carbon prices required to make digesters profitable on U.S. dairy farms
Posted on January 29, 2011
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Published by the University of Minnesota, January 2011, the objective of this analysis is to evaluate the impacts of three factors: 1.) Methane emission differences related to climate and manure storage type; 2.) Digester economies of size, and 3.) Electricity values on the minimum breakeven carbon dioxide (CO2)-equivalent methane (CH4) destruction prices that different?sized dairy farms in different U.S. states would require to make anaerobic digester installation profitable. Download the report. . .
One-day meeting on Dec. 2, 2010 to focus on anaerobic digestion in the Chesapeake Bay region
Posted on October 19, 2010
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Join AgSTAR and the Penn State Cooperative Extension for a one-day event, Dec. 2, 2010, at the Farm and Home Center, 1383 Arcadia Road, Lancaster, PA, on biogas recovery opportunities utilizing anaerobic digestion in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Producers will learn about successful digester systems on small to medium operations, as well as important considerations when evaluating the potential for community digesters. The event also will focus on the prospects for revenue from energy generation, nutrient value, fiber recovery, and carbon credits; including examples of these successful ventures on local farms.
Following the presentations, participants have the choice of visiting either Oregon Dairy or Brubaker’s Dairy, Mount Joy, PA, to see how these producers are realizing their digesters’ potentials. Limited opportunities are available for exhibiting at the event. Before leaving, sign-up to receive a free pre-feasibility assessment for a manure digester with biogas recovery at your operation.
For more information, go to: AgSTAR – Penn State Cooperative Extension Anaerobic Digester Workshop
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