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Documents, Tools and Resources
Green is the Color of "Cow Power"
The Process
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Manure collection pit: Manure is scraped from the
freestall barn into a manure collection pit. Recycled newspaper
bedding is also collected with the manure.
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Manure Mix pit: the manure is mixed for consistency
and enters the digester.
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Digester: Manure is heated to 100 degrees F with
waste heat from the engine for optimal breakdown. The digester
is designed to handle manure from 1,000 cows. Now, the digester
handles manure from less than 500 cows and it takes about
40 days for the manure to flow through the digester. The
bacteria in the digester break down the manure and release
biogas, composed of 70 percent methane. The biogas is captured
and piped to the generator to be burned to produce electricity.
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Lagoon: Where the digestate is stored until it can
be applied to the fields.
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