Cow Power - Rensselaer Polytechnic...

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Cow Power Tim Spafford, Eric Dominguez, and Brandon Terry Energy, Environment, and the Economy April 11, 2017

Transcript of Cow Power - Rensselaer Polytechnic...

Page 1: Cow Power - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutehomepages.rpi.edu/~keblip/ENERGYECONOMY/PROJECT/Cow_Powe… · cow manure into a biogas and other materials ... Produce cow bedding and

Cow PowerTim Spafford, Eric Dominguez, and Brandon Terry

Energy, Environment, and the Economy

April 11, 2017

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Overview● Objective Statement● What is Cow Power● Background on the Vermont Program● Analysis of a single VT Dairy Farm● Next steps in the project

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Project objective: The objective of this project is to determine the feasibility of the Cow Power program, and determine if this source of renewable energy is a viable and long term option for Vermont and other nearby farming communities.

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What is Cow Power?● “Cow Power” is the name of a renewable energy project in Vermont

● This project fosters the use of anaerobic digesters by local dairy farms to convert

cow manure into a biogas and other materials

● The biogas is then used to create electricity, which can be used by the farm and

output back onto the grid

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How the Anaerobic Digestion System Works

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Background on Vermont Cow Power Program● This program is led by Green Mountain Power (GMP) - an electricity provider

in Vermont● Program began in 2003● Currently 14 Vermont dairy farms that have joined to supply electricity back

onto the grid● Dairy farms were incentivized to install these digester and generator systems

on their farm through federal and state grants○ Grants cover 40-50% of the capital cost to install

● Over 20 commercial businesses and 3,500 residential homes have opted to purchase electricity supplied from the Cow Power program

● The cost for consumers is a $0.04/kWh premium on top of the standard electricity cost for their area

Number of Farms implementedNumber of consumers (residential and commercial) who purchase the electricity Grants and programs that incentivized the cow power programCost to consumers

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Benefits and Implications of “Cow Power” on a large dairy farm in VTBenefits:

● Produce cow bedding and liquid fertilizer as

outputs from digestion process

● Produce heat from generator, which can be

used to heat water for digester and cow

housing and office space

● Generate revenue from Green Mountain

Power by selling electricity back onto the

grid

● Produce electricity for farm use

● Reduce methane emissions into atmosphere

Implications:

● Very large upfront cost

● Annual maintenance cost associated with the

generator and digester

● Must take time to manage the digester

○ Ensuring proper temperature, filling with

manure, emptying out old waste

● Normalized cost of electricity fluctuates,

affecting dairy farm’s revenue from

producing electricity

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Economic Analysis of Using Anaerobic Digester and Generator System● 1,000 cow dairy farm

○ 5 cows produce around 1 kW of electricity

○ This size farm can produce up to 1,600,000 kWh of electricity per year

○ The average CVPS customer uses around 3,000 - 6,000 kWh per year, therefore providing power to

around 230-460 people. (This excludes the 200,000 kWh to run the digester itself)

● Farmer Compensation

○ $0.04 /kWh from consumer premium - paid quarterly by Utility company (GMP)

○ ~$0.067/kWh from localized marginal price of electricity - paid monthly by Utility company (GMP)

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Economic Analysis of Using Anaerobic Digester and Generator System● Anaerobic digester utilization period is much higher than other renewable energy

sources at 96%, unlike solar (12%) or wind (30%)

● While the engines are 25-45% efficient when consuming biogas, the heat in the

water jacket and the exhaust byproducts are used to heat the farm and the

digester itself

● Using these digesters can save farmers around $140,000 in heating and bedding

costs

○ $40,000 in heating (around 10,000 gallons of oil for heating purposes)

○ $100,000 in bedding which consists of saw dust/hay

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Breakdown of Costs and Revenues Generated for a Typical 1,000 Cow Dairy FarmCosts

● Capital Cost = $1.4 million

○ Federal and State grants can cover ~40-50%

of capital cost

○ Cost to build per cow = $1,200 - $1,600

● Cost to maintain systems = ~$0.03/kWh per

year

○ $45,000 - $60,000 per year

Revenues

● $171,200 per year from electricity

○ Produce 1,600,000 kWh per year

○ Compensated $0.04/kWh from consumer

premium

○ Compensated ~$0.067/kWh from the

locational marginal price of electricity

● Save around $40,000 in heating costs per

year

○ Use heat produced by generator

○ Save ~10,000 gallons of oil

● Save $100,000 in cow bedding per year

○ Would otherwise purchase sawdust for

bedding

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Environmental Impact● Reduce methane emissions by 3.4 metric tons of CO2 Equivalents per cow per

year (3,400 metric tons of CO

2

equivalents per year for the 1,000 cow farm)

○ Metric Ton = 2,200 lb.

○ CO2 Equivalent = Universal standard measurement that allows for the comparison of different

greenhouse gasses’ ability to trap heat in the atmosphere

○ Global Warming Potential = How effective the gas is at warming the atmosphere, relative to CO

2

Greenhouse gas Chemical Formula Lifetime in the atmosphere (years)

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

Carbon Dioxide CO2 50-200 1

Methane CH4 12-17 21

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Environmental Impact● 3,400 metric tons of CO

2

equivalent is comparable to greenhouse effects of:

○ 382, 581 gallons of gasoline consumed

○ 3, 628, 123 pounds of coal burned

○ 7,872 barrels of oil burned

● 10,000 gallons of oil are saved each year from recycling heat generated from

burning biogas in engine to produce electricity

● However, Biogas does emit CO

2

as a byproduct - Doesn’t this defeat the purpose?

○ When fossil fuels are burned, they emit carbon dioxide that was removed from the atmosphere

millions of years ago. This causes an imbalance since photosynthesis rates can not keep up with the

emissions.

○ When biogasses are burned, they emit carbon dioxide from recently grown organic matter. This can

be partially balanced by the carbon removed from the air during photosynthesis.

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Next Steps● Discuss with current Cow Power dairy farms and consumers of Cow Power

electricity to learn more about the Vermont program● Look further into the entry barriers for this program● Determine feasibility of anaerobic digestion with smaller farms (Co-ops?)

○ Discuss with dairy farm owners○ Look more into the barriers for dairy farms and electricity consumers○ Look into policies and funding opportunities to subsidize cost

● Transfer concept into a business proposal for NYS dairy farms○ Large initial capital expenditures requires buy-in from farmers and other sources of waste for the

biogas. ○ Policy Recommendations to lower barriers and increase incentives. ○ Reduce risk and uncertainties for smaller dairy farmers.

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Questions?

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ReferencesCornell. (2013). Anaerobic Digestion Systems. New York.

(2008). Cow Power: A Guide To Harnessing the Energy in Livestock Waste. Colorado Department of Agriculture.

CVPS. (2010, March). CVPS Cow Power: Question and Answer.

Green Mountain Power. (n.d.). Vermont: Conservation of Law Foundation.

Mehta, A. (2002). The Economics and Feasibility of Electricity Generation Using Manure Digestion on Small and Mid-Size Dairy Farms. University of Wisconsin, Madison.

University of Vermont. (2011). Economic feasibility of converting cow manure to electricity: A case study of the CVPS Cow Power program in Vermont. Burlington, Vermont.

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EXTRAS

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Next Steps● Discuss with current Cow Power dairy farms and consumers of Cow Power electricity● Determine feasibility of anaerobic digestion with smaller farms (Co-ops?)

○ Discuss with dairy farm owners○ Why people are willing to pay surcharge? Look at purchasing barriers○ Look more into the barriers for dairy farms○ Talk with residential and commercial consumers who are part of this program

● Transfer concept into a business proposal in NYS, a cooperative for a network of farmers, or individual model for large dairy farmers.

○ Proximity and volume unique to NYS requires a specific supply chain to meet the needs of farmers.○ Creating a venture can leverage incentives to provide value to both the venture, farmers, and state residents. ○ Large initial capital expenditures requires buy-in from farmers and other sources of waste for the biogas. ○ Uncertainties: Are farmers willing to give us their waste? If done through a JV who will do what and what will

be outsourced (e.g. trucking)? What revenues streams should we focus (e.g. selling excess fertilizer, selling electricity, selling animal bedding)?

○ Policy Recommendations to lower barriers and increase incentives.

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Contacts Developed in NYS● Phil Herrington (owner of Herrington Dairy Farm) through known contact -

Secretary states he’s too busy.

● Bernie Wiesen, works at Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension and has

connections with dairy farmers in the county area - Expecting a call from us.

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Contacts developed in VT● Gervais Family Farm - 6001 Boston Post Rd, Enosburg Falls, VT

● Clement Gervais (802) 782 - 3841

● Maplehurst Farm - 2183 Gebbie Rd, Greensboro, VT● Peter Gibbie (802) 533 - 2984

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Current Policy● Food Waste Diversion Laws

● 3.9M tons of food waste/yr

● Cuomo’s NYS Food Recovery and Recycling Act

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Questionnaire for Dairy Farms - W/O Digesters● Have you heard of Cow Power before? From where? When?

● How many cattle do you have?

● How do you typically use the manure that you have?

● Where do you get your energy from before now, or if you don’t use cow power?

● The grid, wood, oil, wind, etc.

● What’s your view on alternative energy production?

● Do you know anybody that uses alternative energy?

● Would you be interested in contributing to a cooperative energy production idea (community scale)?

● In the case of other renewable energy sources, there would be tax incentives? Does this change your mind

at all?

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Questionnaire for Dairy Farms - With Digesters● How long have you been a part of this program?

● How many of cattle do you have?

● How do you typically use the manure that you have?

● Where do you get your energy from before cow power?

● What’s your view on alternative energy production?

● Do you know anybody that uses alternative energy?

● Would you be interested in contributing to a cooperative energy production idea (community scale) if

you aren’t already apart of one?

● In the case of other renewable energy sources, there would be tax incentives? Does this change your mind

at all positively/negatively?

● How much money do you save because of using digester based energy production?