Manure for Fuel

The development of large feedlots for livestock has created economic opportunity for
agribusiness in Texas. Hogs, beef and dairy cattle and poultry are often fed in close
proximity to maximize efficient production and keep costs low. At the same time,
however, this practice produces large amounts of animal manure that may emit odors,
methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, antibiotics and ammonia. Manure can also
produce water pollution from uncontrolled runoff of phosphorus and nitrates.
Growing environmental concerns coupled with higher energy prices have led to a
renewed interest in using animal manure, also known as feedlot biomass, to produce
power. This can be accomplished either by burning manure directly for fuel, gasifying it
with heat or by turning it into biogas through biological decomposition. The best
approach to using animal wastes for power depends on the amount of moisture and
essentially non-biodegradable solid materials including dirt (generally called ash) mixed
with the manure to be used as a feedstock. Each of these methods disposes of large
accumulations of manure while mitigating its possible negative environmental effects.
Environmental benefits to processing manure into fuel include cleaner air and water.
Methane has a global warming effect that is 21 times that of carbon dioxide, so using the
methane for energy production significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. And
because manure that is used in the biogas plant is not washed off land surfaces into local
rivers and streams, the local watershed also benefits.
Manure also can be used to reduce emissions from traditional fuels. A recent scientific
study by the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station found that co-firing coal plants with manure lowers their emissions of nitrous
oxide (NOX). The reburning process involves a second combustion process to reduce
these air emissions.
Manure-based power plants can boost rural economic development and provide dairy
farmers and feedlot operators with another source of revenue, or at least cut their disposal
costs. Although Texas is a leading beef and dairy cattle producer, use of manure for
energy is just beginning in Texas. There are promising new plants in Central Texas and
the Panhandle both under construction and on the drawing board which have the potential
to bring jobs and income to rural Texas, although there are no estimates of the current or
potential effects available.

Dry Manure for Fuel

Dry manure has long provided heating and cooking fuel for rural societies. If the water
content of manure is low enough (less than 20%), dry manure can be burnt directly. Solid,
dry manure includes manure from beef feedlots and dairy drylots. Burning dry manure
can also release energy for the production of biogas. While supplying its own energy
needs, a cattle feedlot operation could also solve its manure disposal problem, reduce

odors, provide jobs, and increase the local tax base - all by installing a manure-to-energy
generator on site.

Wet Manure for Fuel

Many livestock operations flush animal pens with water and store the manure in waste
lagoons, or ponds. Wet manure that is produced from dairy cattle and hogs produces
biogas when confined in enclosed areas. This is called Anaerobic Digestion. The biogas
produced by anaerobic digestion contains about 60% methane, which is a primary
component of natural gas and an important source of energy. To take advantage of this, a
growing number of livestock operations are placing floating covers on their lagoons to
capture the biogas. The gas is then used to run an engine/generator to produce electricity.
In addition, biogas from manure can be captured and purified to yield pipeline grade
methane that is chemically the same as natural gas. Pipeline grade methane can be
transported by pipeline for sale to the local power grid to run electric generators.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a voluntary program to
reduce methane emissions in the livestock industry. This program, known as the AgSTAR
Program, encourages adoption of anaerobic digestion technologies that recover and
combust biogas (methane) for odor control or as an on-farm energy resource.

Anaerobic Digestion and Methane Recovery

In the anaerobic digestion process, manure is collected and broken down by bacteria in a
low-oxygen environment which generates methane emissions (biogas). Anaerobic
digesters (or methane digesters) such as airtight digester tanks or covered anaerobic
lagoons are used for this process.
Anaerobic digesters are available at competitive rates and are currently in use on farms
across the country. At the beginning of 2008, there were 111 anaerobic digesters
operating across the U.S. that produce electricity or gas to fuel boilers.

Success Story: Broumley Dairy Farm

In 2004, the City of Waco brought an environmental lawsuit against 14 dairy farmers
located along Bosque River for polluting the watershed. In a proactive move, the Central
Texas Broumley Dairy Farm partnered with several Texas state agencies on a
demonstration anaerobic digester-phosphorus removal project. The goal is to remove 80
percent of the phosphorus from the farms waste stream while producing methane gas to
generate electricity for sale to the grid.

Anaerobic Digester Tank

The air-tight anaerobic digester tank converts biomass waste to methane. Capping and
channeling the methane into a productive use, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere,
helps to mitigate global warming while producing a renewable energy that can be used
for heating, electricity, or operation of an internal combustion engine.
The material drawn from the anaerobic digester is called sludge, or effluent. It is rich in
nutrients (ammonia, phosphorus, potassium, and more than a dozen trace elements) and is
an excellent soil conditioner. It can also be used as a livestock feed additive when dried.

Success Story: Huckabay Ridge

Microgy has invested $12 million in an anaerobic digester biogas production and gas
conditioning facility at Huckabay Ridge in Stephenville, Texas. The facility is the first of
its kind in the U.S. and Microgy claims its the largest renewable natural gas plant in the
U.S., and perhaps the world.
It is composed of 8 anaerobic digester tanks that digest manure from up to 10,000 cows.
Each tank has a capacity of 916,000 gallons. The Huckabay Ridge facility has the
capacity to produce 650 million Btu of natural gas per year, enough to provide all the
energy needs for more than 10,000 average Texas homes.
Methane digesters particularly appeal to dairy farmers because they:

add revenue to dairy operations;

cut waste management costs;
provide electricity and power needs;

reduce manure odor by as much as 95%;

reduce pesticide costs;
reduce surface and groundwater contamination;
help minimize run-off and other water quality issues;
capture methane, sulfur compounds and other gases, which would otherwise have
been released into the atmosphere; and,
create nutrient-rich fertilizer, compost, livestock feed additive, and cow bedding
out of the left-over byproducts.

Additional Material
For an overview of the use of feedlot biomass, see the Feedlot Biomass Overview in
the Texas Comptroller's 2008 Energy Report.
Anaerobic Digesters for Farms and Ranches, a web site from DOE.
What is an Anaerobic Digester?, University of Nebraska article.
The Cowpower Video is a humorous, informative video that discusses the role of manure
in the productive channeling of methane gas.
Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credits, Northeast Regional Biomass Program.
Build Your Own Biogas Generator is a web site that includes teacher materials and a
student showcase.
Learn more about the benefits of an on-farm digester as a means of manure processing at
the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute web site. The site includes the Manure
Digestion System Check List, a check list for producers to use to determine if a digester
is a viable option for them.

The AgSTAR Program

The AgSTAR Program is a voluntary effort jointly sponsored by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of
Energy. AgSTAR focuses solely on the production of power from the anaerobic digestion
of biomass such as livestock manure. Here is a sampling of the material available on the
site.

More information on the AgSTAR program is available on the EPA web site.
Managing Manure with Biogas Recovery Systems: Improved Performance at
Competitive Costs provides background information about anaerobic digestion,
and explains how the methane produced from this process can be captured and
used to generate heat, hot water, and electricity.

AgSTAR FarmWare 3.0 software is a free decision support program that assesses
whether or not a methane production, capture, and utilization system can be
integrated into your farms existing or planned manure management system.
FarmWare estimates how much the system will cost and the financial benefits that
may be gained by producing energy for on-farm use or sale or both.