Lemons to Lemonade, Poop to Power: Dairy Waste Makes Electricity

Stan gets me thinking a little more about bovine emissions. Senator Thune and the Farm Bureau have made a big issue out of pre-empting any regulation of livestock flatulence. So if we can't tax cattle waste, how about we plug it into the grid?

According to the EPA, there are currently 140 anaerobic digester facilities in the United States that capture biogas on commercial farms and turn it into electricity. South Dakota has one of these lemons-into-lemonade power plants: a dairy near Milbank can turn the waste from 2400 dairy cows into power for 250 homes.

Some quick math: South Dakota currently has 95,000 dairy cows. Pump their emissions into 40 anaerobic digesters the size of the one near Milbank, and we get power for just about 10,000 homes.

Of course, you could get more annual energy output from 40 1.25-megawatt wind turbines like those powering the city of Rock Port, Missouri. But as my friend Tony will point out, you need baseload power, always on. The wind doesn't blow all the time; cows do.

Now all this poop power isn't a lot: at most, all those dairy cows might produce enough waste to power 3% of South Dakota's households. That power would come at the cost of keeping all those critters confined in feedlots. I don't want to bring cattle in off the open range just to collect their solid and gaseous waste. But if we already have all these cattle and hog confinement operations, why not polish the turd and get some electricity out of them?

In the end, electricity from livestock emissions could be a win-win for everybody. We get renewable power, we reduce pollution, and feedlot operators get one more revenue stream. Can't beat that!

--------------------------
Update 10:30 CST: Ah, but Grant County neighbor Joelie Hicks reminds me of some messy truths shown in these photos which I'm told show overflow from the Milbank manure digester in summer 2008 after a big rainstorm:

Plains Justice Presents Health Info on CAFOs and Coal

My friends at Plains Justice let me know that Dr. Donna Wong-Gibbons, a research scientist trained in physiology and epidemiology, is giving two talks on health and industry this week:

• Tonight in Milbank (Lantern Inn, 7:30 p.m.): how confined animal feeding operations can affect your family's health.
  
• Tomorrow night in Vermillion (W.H. Over Museum, 7:00 p.m.): health risks of coal-fired power plants and their industrial waste.

Good chance to learn about cows, coal, and our clean air and water.

CAFO News: Riverview Dairy Plays Good Neighbor in SD

Terry O'Keefe is giving some really good coverage to Morris (MN)-based Riverview Dairy's effort to build a 5,700-head concentrated animal feeding operation in Kilborn Township near Milbank. Last week O'Keefe talked to local opponents of the project; this week he gives Riverview a chance to air its side.

O'Keefe reports that Riverview Dairy, which runs five big dairies around Morris, already has a South Dakota presence. They run a new 7,200-head feedlot south of Doland under the name United Feeders, LLP. They're building a 7,000-head feedlot south of Raymond and have a permit for another 7,200-head feedlot north of Doland.

Tracy Miller, Zoning Officer for Spink County (that's where Doland is), says Riverview has changed minds and been a good neighbor around Doland:

Since it began operation two years ago, Miller said attitudes have changed and complaints have been sparse.

“We’ve had none,” she said Friday. “There were concerns about odor, about how big it is.

“But since it’s been up and running, there’s been no complaints.”

Miller said the owners of the dairy feedlot have apparently gone out of their way to make sure everything is run as it should be and operates as a good neighbor to others in the area.

“We’ve never heard anything negative come out of there,” Miller said. “We’ve had comments on how clean it is. One local guy who does business with them told me it’s cleaner than his pickup.

“Neighbors who had those concerns are now saying it’s not what they thought it would be.” [Terry O'Keefe, "Dairy Has Presence in State," Watertown Public Opinion, 2008.07.14]

Riverview's spokesman Gary Fehr says Riverview buys feed and supplies locally as much as possible. Riverview also says it is "open to answer any relevant questions" regarding the Kilborn Township CAFO project. (I can't find Riverview's website, but feel free to send your relevant questions to their office at 26402 470th Ave, Morris, MN, 56267-5370, or call 320-392-5609.)

So maybe 7,200 heifers' worth of manure doesn't smell. And maybe a big feedlot can contribute to the local economy (though whether that's enough to make up for water pollution and increased wear and tear on county roads remains to be seen).

There are still fundamental issues with raising cattle in such factory conditions. Mark A. Kastel, senior farm policy analyst at Wisconsin's Cornucopia Institute, makes the following relevant observation about industrial ag in a letter to the Harper's Magazine that popped out of my mailbox yesterday:

Industrial agriculture and processing prioritizes high speed and low costs over safety, quality, and nutrition, thereby promoting the lack of hygiene at the root of most contamination problems. Crowded, abhorrent conditions lead to sick animals that are then loaded with antibiotics and other drugs designed to increase their productivity or to keep them alive a few weeks longer [Mark A. Kastel, letter, Harper's Magazine, August 2008, p. 5].

So remember, county commissioners, economic development officials, and milk drinkers: there's more to CAFOs than jobs, main street business, or even water and air pollution. CAFOs also pose dangers to nutrition and health that deserve our attention.