Combining Electric Power Generation
and Water Quality Enhancement
to
Grow the Southwest Missouri Economy
Verel W. Benson
D. Todd Farrand
Agriculture as a Producer and
Consumer of Energy
June 24-25, 2004 Arlington, VA
Current Energy Reserves and
Consumption
Coal
Petroleum
Natural
Gas
(million
short tons)
(billion
barrels)
(trillion
cu.ft.)
Reserves January 1, 2003
273,656
Conversions to quadrillion
Btu
0.025
5.8
1
Reserves January 1, 2003
(quadrillion Btu)
6,841
132
187
23
39
22
300
3
8
Consumption 2003
(quadrilion Btu)
Years of supply
23
187
Pesticides
Fertilizer
Misc.
Crop Drying
Livestock
Irrigation
Transportation
Field
Operations
Trillions of BTU's
US Agricultural Energy Use in 1974
700
A Little Energy Use History
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Objectives

estimate the poultry litter produced

estimate the amount of litter safely
recycled as fertilizer

determine the feasibility of generating
power from biomass

estimate the likely economic and
environmental impacts
Balancing Phosphorus Needs and Sources
For Crop Production
Potential Phosphorus Available from Confined Animal Manures
Manure P (tons)
0 - 250
250 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 2500
> 2500
Commercial Phosphorus Sold
Phosphorus in Harvested CropsCrop P (tons)
Commercial P (tons)
0 - 250
250 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 2500
> 2500
0 - 250
250 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 2500
> 2500
Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture
Source: 1997 Census of Agriculture
Source: MU Agricultural
Experiment Station
Litter Supply - Purdy
#
#
Purdy
50-mi Transport Zones
Poultry Litter Supply (T/sq mi)
0
1 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 200
> 200
#
Poultry Byproducts
Field Demonstrations
Litter
Hauling
Litter
Spreading
Nutrient Testing
Second Litter Demonstration
Litter Demonstration Area
Dale Norwood
Farm
First Litter
Demonstration
Lamar about 5 miles
Demonstration Harvesting
Type of Litter
EM Turkey
Commercial
Fertilizer
Manure
MOARK Layer
Layer
Manure
Layer
Manure
Turkey
EM Litter
Turkey
with Effective
Litter
Microorganisms
EM Turkey
Litter
Turkey Litter
Litter
with Effective
Microorganisms
30.0
20.0
Added
Litter
ValueAdded
Honey Crest
Litter
Farms Pelleted
ValueMicrobial
Added
Litter
Fresh Broiler
ValueLitter
Bushels/acre
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Broiler
Litter
Lbs/Acre
Demonstration Yield Comparison
120.0
110.0
100.0
Corn Year 1
Commercial Fertilizer
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
Corn Yield (bu/ac)
50.0
40.0
Soybean Yield (bu/ac)
N
Poultry Litter N-P-K Applications by Strip
10.0
0.0
P2O5
K2O
Soybeans Year 2
Commercial Fertilizer
Second Litter Demonstration
 Commercial Fertilizer
 Organic-Gro Pearlized litter
 Treated Litter Pellets
 Thermal Depolymerization
Fertilizer Byproduct
Potential Energy from Biomass

Burn poultry litter
• On farm furnace to heat houses
• Power plant
• Co-fire with coal
• Co-fire with wood byproducts

Thermal Conversion Process
(Depolymerization)
Heating
with
Poultry Litter
Poultry House Heating can be a
Complex Issue
Energy Loss from
Roof & Walls
85°F Air holds
twice as much
moisture as
65°F air
Early 1970’s the
Recommendation
recommended
Ventilation broiler
washouse
changed
temperature to
Loss
Ventilation
was 65°F
75-80°F needs cut in half
at 85°F
Energy is required to evaporate moisture from litter
Poultry Litter Furnace
Advanced Biomass Carbon, LLC, Owensville, MO
Considerations for
On-farm Litter Burning
Heating demands are seasonal
Heating demands concentrated
in the first two weeks of growth
Producing Energy from
Poultry & Forestry
Byproducts
How Much Poultry Litter would It take
to Fuel a Power Plant?
40MW
150,000 tons
Forestry biomass
250,000 tons
poultry litter/year
Fibrowatt Option
SW Missouri Growers
produce 250,000 tons
of litter per year
Litter Supply – Springfield Site
Tons Springfield
of Poultry Litter
149,195
#
#
451,883
894,970
Springfield
50-mi Transport Zones
Poultry Litter Supply (T/sq mi)
0
1 - 50
51 - 100
101 - 200
> 200
#
150 mile
100 mile
50 mile
Arkansas and Virginia
Studies
Estimate litter hauling costs to be
10 to 12 cents
per ton/mile
Estimated Cost per Btu from
Coal & Poultry Litter Springfield, MO
Poultry Litter by
Distance from Site
0-50 miles
51-100 miles
101-150 miles
Tons
Available
150,000
450,000
900,000
Cost per
Million Btu
<$1.20
$1.21-$1.80
$1.81-$2.40
Coal
n/a
$1.43
Thermal Conversion Process
(Depolymerization)
•
•
•
Current inputs- offal (bird processing wastes), and dead birds
Future inputs- dead animals, poultry litter, and other biological
byproducts
Outputs
Carthage Animal Byproduct
•
•
•
•
•
Fuel oil
Liquid nitrogen fertilizer
Solid organic fertilizer
•
•
•
•
Phosphorus
Potassium
Calcium
Micronutrients
Water
BSE proteins denatured
Processing Plant
Economic and Environmental
Impacts

Consumer impacts

Farm impacts

Watershed impacts

Regional impacts
POULTRY HISTORY
Vertical
Integration
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
19
35
19
39
19
43
19
47
19
51
19
55
19
59
19
63
19
67
19
71
19
75
19
79
19
83
19
87
19
91
19
95
19
99
cents/lb
Prior to
Vertical
Integration Farm Level Prices (1982-84=100 CPI)
A Chicken
in every pot
meant wealth
Year
Cattle
Source:USDA, ERS
Hogs
Chicken
Now Chicken
is in pots,
sandwiches,
hot dogs,
sausage,
fried,
baked,
grilled,
???????????
Consumer Savings
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Potential Consumer Savings/lb
19
35
19
39
19
43
19
47
19
51
19
55
19
59
19
63
19
67
19
71
19
75
19
79
19
83
19
87
19
91
19
95
19
99
cents/lb
Farm Level Prices (1982-84=100 CPI)
Year
Cattle
Source:USDA, ERS
Hogs
Chicken
Farm Impacts
Poultry production
impacts nearby grain
producers
Nearby grain producers
have greatest potential to
recycle poultry litter
fertilizer byproducts
Corn Price Effect of
Poultry Feed Demand
Watershed Impacts

Reduce fecal Coliform
load

Reduce phosphorus load

Biomass production
Shoal Creek
How
Contaminated
is it ?
Where Does it
Come From ?
On 303d List for Fecal Coliform Impairment
Where is Shoal Creek?
Shoal Creek
WhiteRiver Basin
WRB&Border
Counties
N
W
E
S
Model results for Shoal Creek Watershed
Fecal Coliform Load Contributions by
Source
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Stream cattle
Sanitary sewage
Grazing cattle
Poultry litter
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Baseflow
Medium flow
Storm flow
Total
Riparian Buffers
Buffers trap
Sediment
Phosphorus
Fecal coliform
Buffers Produce
Biomass
Potential Biomass
Buffers- Springfield Site
Biomass
Production
expected to be
5-10 tons/acre
per year
Springfield
Potential Acres of Buffers
91,387
169,333
140,771
Springfield
50-mi Transport Zones
150-mile
Buffer Density (ac/sq mi)
0- 5
5 - 10
10 - 15
15 - 20
> 20
#
#
100-mile
50-mile
Biomass Compressed to Less than
50 % of Original Volume
•Methodology developed by University of Missouri-Columbia
Capsule Pipeline Research Center to compress coal
•Compressed biomass is easier to transport and store
•Cost is estimated to be $5 to $8 per ton
•Prototype machine for compressing forest byproducts and
poultry litter will be designed next year with plans to
construct and test a prototype with the next 2 years
Develop an Integrated Agroforestry/ Poultry
Litter Recycling
Industry that
Produces
Regional
Economic
Impacts
Renewable Energy and Fertilizer Products
Choices
of
$?,??? Million
?,??? jobs
Loss of
Recreation Industries
-$1.4 Billion
-34,000 Jobs
Develop
A Litter Hauling
Recycling Industry
$15.9 million
182 jobs
Loss of
Poultry Industry
-$1.8 Billion
-16,000 Jobs
Thank You