Plant will use animal waste to produce green electricity

By John Funchion

Construction of a proposed $14.3 million, three megawatt, manure to methane energy renewal plant in Canaan Valley in the near future will have minimal affect on the environment, milk

Bob Jacquier of Laurelbrook Farm.

production and Norfolk’s rural character. That is the view of Bob Jacquier of Laurelbrook Farm, when he states, “from a community viewpoint, there will be little day to day change here at our farm. We are just adding two digesters which will be more environmentally friendly for all of us.”
A digestate liquid storage tank, already in place, holding 2.5 millions gallons of liquid manure, will feed both digesters which will hold 960,000 gallons each. These digesters will process approximately 55,000 of manure per day. Methane gas generated from the manure of 2,000 cows from three farms in the valley would create enough electricity to power 3,000 homes.
Jacquier says, “the additional benefit will be a value added, sanitized soil product which will become a high quality natural fertilizer.” He added “some of the manure will go to the cow pot production at the Freund Farm.” Cow pots are biodegradable pots for plants that are composed of cow manure. The process was developed by Matthew Freund of East Canaan.
Five years in the planning, this proposed renewable energy plant received a boost when the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) on January 30 approved a proposal known as Project 100, created by the Connecticut General Assembly to produce some 100 megawatts of electricity from 11 different renewable sources around the state. Essentially the state is guaranteeing a long term contract to purchase electricity generated from this proposed manure plant.
The plant would be developed by Clearview Power, LLC, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The biomass project is made up of a consortium of three farms in the Canaan Valley: Laurelbrook Farm, Elm Knoll Farm and Freund’s Farm, Inc. It is also known as Clearview East Canaan Energy, LLC and has met DPUC criteria. According to the state, the plan must be implemented by July 1, 2008.
Bob Jacquier indicated that the plant would probably be located near the digestate tank across the fields of Laurelbrook Farm at the base of Canaan Mountain, nearly one half mile from Route 44. He said it would be one of “the better places to handle any odor.” With proper design, it would easily blend into the environmental foliage of the distant landscape.
Perry Gardner, a retired engineer and project manager for the consortium said” we need all the alternative and innovative ideas we can get today. This would be a very good project.” He did, however, question the feasibility of the July 1 implementation date.
Dave Jacquier of Elm Knoll Farm said “essentially the company would be ‘renting’ the manure from us for the methane then we get the residual, no-weed seed, clean manure back for a perfect and natural fertilizer. The rent worth of the manure would be about 8 to17 cents per thousand gallons to move it. This is a source of income for us.” Initial designs call for the manure to be moved through a piping system connecting all three farms.
He added “we have to be efficient. If we can’t make it with milk, then we have to find alternatives. If for some reason we weren’t wanted in the valley when our ability to produce milk wore out, then we would always do something else.”
One of the reasons why the proposed biomass plant has met the criteria of the DPUC is the success of dairy farmers in other states who found that turning manure into energy prevented forced selling of their land to developers. DPUC spokesman, Beryl Lyons said that the biomass plant will be added to New England’s electric transmission system grid.
Members of the consortium, along with other local and State officials will be visiting two farms in Wisconsin shortly to learn more about successful biomass renewable energy projects.