Bachewe, Fantu Lazarus, William Goodrich, Philip Drewitz, Matt Balk, Becky
Abstract
Minnesota can improve the utilization of manure and organic wastes via the production of biogas that can be used to produce heat and electricity. Denmark serves as a role model for Minnesota in the number of central anaerobic digesters that it supports. During anaerobic digestion methane is produced when naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria decompose organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This process produces what is called biogas, which usually is a mixture of 55 â 65 percent methane plus carbon dioxide with trace gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Co-generation using manure and other feedstocks can produce more energy than manure alone. Central digesters are more likely to process wastes from food processing plants and other sources resulting in the need for more specialized unloading facilities and larger storage spaces. Digesters can be owned by farmers or consumers cooperatives, third party/non-farming investor(s), state or municipal government, or established as a cooperative or limited liability corporation. Problems associated with centralized digester operation include capital constraints, low profitability, lower-than-expected waste availability, electricity connection and pricing, and waste disposal constraints.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics in its series Staff Papers with number
44116.
Length: Date of creation: Oct 2008 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:ags:umaesp:44116
Contact details of provider: Postal: 231ClaOff Building, 1994 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108-6040 Phone: (612) 625-1222 Fax: (612) 625-6245 Email: Web page: http://www.apec.umn.edu More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (AgEcon Search).