FAIR OAKS, Ind. (AP)--The prolific digestive system of cows may reduce the cost of making alternative fuel under a deal between an Indiana dairy farm anda technology firm.
Fair Oaks Dairy will partner with Old Bethpage, N.Y.-based Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. to build an ethanol plant powered by animal manure. Executives said Tuesday that construction could begin sometime in 2007, the Post-Tribune reported.
Under the plant's design, waste from every 1,000 dairy cows would be able to provide enough energy to produce 1 million gallons of ethanol.
The process would create ethanol at only three-quarters of the normal cost, while eliminating 20% of operating costs, said David Mager, Bion's vice president of public policy.
"For a commodity business, that's a big deal," he said, according to the newspaper report.
The process would also lessen the amount of energy needed to produce ethanol -one of the main criticisms of the biofuel.
Often, the most expensive part of an ethanol plant is its centrifuge, which dries distillers grain. The grain must be dried before it can be disposed.
Under the new model, instead of being dried, the grain can be fed to cattle, eliminating the need for the costly, energy-consuming centrifuge.
Next, workers will separate the manure from methane and hemicellulosic material, which makes the waste fragment. The methane will used to power the ethanol plant.
The cost to operate the plant will vary based on how many farms join the project.
Mike McCloskey, owner of Fair Oaks, 40 miles south of Gary, said the two companies are still studying how big the plant should be and how many cows will be needed, the newspaper reported.
Indiana has one ethanol plant, operated by New Energy Corp., in South Bend. Eight other ethanol plants and three biofuel plants are under construction in the state.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says at least two dozen others are being considered by developers.
Source: Dow Jones Newswire