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2014: Bioenergy from Dairy Manure
Manure is an expensive challenge for dairy farms and a major source of greenhouse gases and water pollution. This team is developing an advanced treatment process to recover maximum energy—biogas, liquid biofuels, renewable electricity, and thermal energy—from manure and other food production wastes. The new hybrid approach uses anaerobic digestion and high-pressure, superheated water to extract more of the waste’s energy potential, leaving behind a useful, nutrient-rich liquid fertilizer. This sustainable and potentially affordable process promises to reduce the livestock industry’s environmental impact, while reclaiming energy and nutrients from the industry’s wastes.
Investigators: Jeff Tester, Michal Moore, Thomas Overton, Lars Angenent