A Report From Energy Ant - My Trip to the Department of Agriculture's Research Center

Did you know that a Hummer can run on soybeans? Or, that paper can be made out of feathers? Or, that manure could be used to light a barn? If you said no to any or all of these questions, you are not alone. I never thought about these things either, that is until I went to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Service. This "farm" is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is located in Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C., and covers some 6,700 acres. It is huge. The buildings were built as part of a Civilian Conservation Corps Project during the Great Depression, so they are listed in the national registry of historic buildings which means that you can not change them. No water slides out the second story window or anything like that.

So, you are probably wondering what a farm has to do with energy (I am Energy Ant, after all, right? Well, I did grow up on an ant farm--but I'll tell you about that some other time). Anyhow, farms actually have a lot to do with energy. They are both energy users and energy producers. Here in Beltsville, scientists are doing research to help our farming community. In fact, the folks here have discovered a way to use new materials that are more energy efficient but actually look like the old fashioned version. They also work hard to make sure they recycle whatever they can, and are still working to make the farm as energy efficient as they can.

For example, most of the vehicles here on the farm, including the bus that took me around, run on biodiesel. Most biodiesel today is made from soybean oil but it is sometimes made from oils or fats, including recycled restaurant grease.

You know the old saying, “One ant’s waste is another ant’s reading lamp?” Well, try to think of it this way. Dairy farms have a lot of cows, and those cows produce a lot of waste. When cows are in the field, the waste becomes natural fertilizer, but when they are in barns, the waste must be taken away somewhere---and sometimes it is just put into compost piles. But, here at the farm in Beltsville, there is a new way to deal with all of that waste. They put it in an anaerobic digester (pictured top left).

Before going to the digester, the manure is separated. Some parts are taken out and used as fertilizer, other parts are taken out completely and not used at all because they cause air pollution, and the rest of the manure is put into the digester where it is heated. The bacteria that naturally live in the manure begin to digest the waste. I was told that it is important to keep the digester at the right temperature because if the bacteria are not happy, or are too hot or too cold, they may not make as much biogas--or they may make gas that doesn’t have as much energy content (BTUs). Think of it like you writing a report for school. If you are unhappy or distracted while you are writing, it still might get done, but your report might not be as good as the report you write while sitting at your desk and concentrating.

Anyhow, as they digest, these tiny creatures emit a gas, called biogas or methane. This gas is collected, mixed with natural gas, and burned in a micro generator that generates electricity for the barn (pictured left). On average it would take about 100 cows to run the electricity in one house. Isn't that pretty cool? So, you can actually supply your farmhouse's energy with your own farm waste.

Also, I learned that manure is being used to grow algae. The algae is used as a fertilizer, which is actually a better source than using manure alone.  Besides making algae, this project also cleans the water that is mixed in with the waste. Scientists are researching the way water flows under a field (this is called hydrology). The hope is that if you know where the water is, and where it goes after a rain, you can put fertilizer in an area and know where it will end up after it gets soaked into the ground (pictured right).

We also got to see where they were trying new types of composting and heard about vegetative landfill caps. These caps keep the gases from escaping and are designed to replace expensive, high tech caps in older landfills.   Another cool thing we saw was the chicken feather research lab.  Scientists here are looking at ways to recycle chicken feathers to make everything from car parts to particleboard.  I even got to touch a feather-made piece of paper.  And, since we eat lots of chicken in this country, and all of those chicken leave about 5 billion pounds of waste in the form of feathers. Yes FEATHERS, who would have guessed these feathers could be used to make something else, something we can actually use.  Boy, was that cool.

You know, there is just so much to see here in Beltsville. I never knew there were so many different ideas and energy-related research projects going on at this farm in Maryland. Wow! I have to admit, it has been a long, and at times, a rather smelly day (you know---with all of that cow manure) it is time to get back on the bus and head back to the Department of Energy. So until the next trip, bye for now and a big thank you to all of our wonderful hosts!