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Biofuel
Michigan Gas Utilities helped Scenic View Dairy Farm in Fennville, Michigan, engineer, test and install three "anaerobic digestion" tanks. Each tank can hold up to 1 million gallons of manure, which is turned into usable energy.
If one cow produces about 100 pounds of manure daily, imagine the amount produced by a dairy farm with 1,600 head of cattle.
Turning farm waste into valuable, usable energy is a smart move economically and environmentally. Michigan Gas Utilities, our natural gas utility in Michigan, partnered with Scenic View Dairy Farm in Fennville, Michigan, on such a project.
The process that converts manure into usable energy is called "anaerobic digestion." During anaerobic digestion, microorganisms in the manure are cultivated and grown in tanks. The waste from these microorganisms is 70% methane, and with technology, that can be increased to 99% methane. The gas itself can be used as energy, or it can be turned into electricity.
Using this "green" process, Scenic View Dairy Farm generates electricity for its own use, sells excess electricity to others, and sells excess gas — after it is cleaned to pipeline quality — to Michigan Gas Utilities. The operation is monitored to ensure it meets state standards for energy generation, such as having an automatic shutdown process and adding odor to the gas for safety reasons.
Michigan Gas Utilities helped the dairy engineer, test and install the biofuel system. And the utility is willing to help other dairies or utilities that would like to do the same.