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Final Report: Developing an Integrated Biomass Processing Plan for Wayne and Stark Counties, Ohio
EPA Grant Number: SU831816Title: Developing an Integrated Biomass Processing Plan for Wayne and Stark Counties, Ohio
Investigators: Hall, Dennis , Beeson, Ryan , Burkhart, Veronica , Cleversy, Sara , Curtis, Heather , Jeanty, Wilner , Keller, Calvin , Lahmers, Michele , McVey, Matthew , Panik, Dean , Recker, Phil , Sharp, Jessica , Sikdar, Kieran , Stokes, Ryan , Tran, Lisa , Wells, John
Institution: Ohio State University - Main Campus
EPA Project Officer: Nolt-Helms, Cynthia
Project Period: September 15, 2004 through September 14, 2005
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity, and the Planet (2004)
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development
Description:
Objective:The US EPA P3 Design Competition inspired a totally new set of activities. Students and faculty from many different disciplines, who did not know each other prior to this announcement, created a high perfonnance team to author a proposal, administer the grant, create and participate in unique educational activities, conduct independent and collaborative research on biomass processing topics, and deliver a set of recommendations to community leaders.
The focus of this project was to design effective business models to convert biomass waste materials that exist in abundance in Wayne and Stark Counties into new value-added products. The goal was to redirect 5% of biomass resources to new economic enterprises. Success will be measured by willingness to invest in proposed recommendations by public and private sources.
Two of three student teams chose to focus on livestock manure as the primary feedstock for their enterprises. Managed to prevent pollution and recover the nutrient values of manure, dairy farmers experience a cost between $70 and $150 per cow. Composting and anaerobic digestion represent technologies that can potentially turn these waste products into new, marketable products and improve net fann income. A third team focused on non-farm sources of biornass wastes and eventually chose to explore the product of biofuels; biodiesel from the rendering industry and ethanol from cellulosic wastes.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):Each of the three teams developed business plans that have direct applications in the community. As of the writing of this report, several partners have been identified and there is agreement to further develop these business models in the upcoming months. The Wayne Economic Development Council, the Stark Tuscarawas Wayne Solid Waste District, and se\eral private businesses have all indicated their desire to participate in the next steps of this process.
The composting team designed a new business, Soil Designs L.L.C., that will blend dairy manure, paper waste, yard waste, and wood wastes to create a high value soil amendment. This product will yield P3 benefits for both the producers and consumers of this product. Dairy manure, which is in excess of the land’s capacity, will be processed into a high quality soil amendment and exported from the farm to residential and commercial applications. Compost research indicates that when applied in urban landscapes it will provide plant nutrients, disease resistance, and improved water infiltration (reduced storm water runoff). OSU is also exploring teclmology that will use compost as a carrier for nematodes to reduce soil insect pests. Consequently, use of compost will displace commercial fertilizers and pesticides. One farmer appears willing to invest in this strategy and is exploring a value-added producer grant and water quality pollution control fund financing to assist in the development of a compost processing facility. We are confident of the market for this product and think that there may be some opportunities to franchise this business model with several producers in the area.
The anaerobic digestion team designed a new business, Orrville BioPower, L.L.C., that will produce electricity and by-product heat from manure and food wastes. In addition to economic gains associated with this business model, the dairy farms utilizing this technology will reduce nuisance odors and global warming gasses. As proposed, area dairy farms will partner with the Orrville Municipal Power Plant to produce biogas, convert it to electricity, and put it on the grid. Additional research is needed to determine the most effective strategy to accomplish this goal. Ohio laws currently discourage distributed generation and it seems necessary that a partnership with the Orrville power plant be formed in order for this business to be viable.
The biofuels team explored the production of transportation fuels from two different feedstocks. As this area has a large quantity of paper and other cellulosic wastes, the production of ethanol from these materials was investigated. This may be of high interest in the near future, but it remains cost prohibitive at this time. Another product that bears investigation is methanol from these cellulosic materials. Methanol is an ingredient needed in the production of the second biofuel investigated, biodiesel. The biofuels team did determine that there was excellent potential to convert yellow grease from the rendering industry in to biodiesel. Three rendering companies in northeast Ohio produce 720.000 pounds of finished yellow grease per week. This could be converted in to over 5 million gallons of biodiesel (B 100) per year. It is also possible for rendering companies to utilize a batch processing technology similar to that developed at Oberlin College as part of their US EPA P3 project with only minimal renovation to existing facilities. (OSU students and faculty would like to acknowledge and express our appreciation specifically to Oberlin College for the design work they have conducted that supported our biofuels team. They participated in our community presentations and were valuable partners in thinking about biodiesel on a regional scale. We pledge our support and encourage US EPA to support Oberlin College’s P3 Phase II Proposal.
Conclusions:The Buckeye Biomass Student Initiative has been a very successful learning and business design experience for students at OSU. Through speaking with and learning from business leaders, scientists, and Ohio public policy official, students have walked away with more knowledge than any textbook could teach them. They have worked hard to create their plans. and their research findings were supported community leaders and research faculty.
Proposed Phase II objectives and strategies:
Proposed Phase 11 objectives and strategies: After completing Phase I we propose that there should be a new Biomass Utilization Consultants, Inc. (BUCI) created as an official student organization at OSU. This association will replicate a Board of Directors to simulate corporate leadership and governance. Officers will include Vice President for Composting, Vice President for Anaerobic Digestion, and Vice President for Bio-Fuels. In time, as new business models are developed, we will expand this board of directors.
During Phase I, we created three business models, which we see as having excellent potential and have identified community farmers/businesses interested in moving the design forward. For each business model we propose a 4D process: Design (completed during Phase I). Develop, Demonstrate, and Deploy.
Supplemental Keywords:community-based, renewable, waste reduction, agriculture, food processing, northeast, OH, Ohio, biomass, value-added, recycling, compost, biofuels, anaerobic digestion,
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TREATMENT/CONTROL, Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, RFA, POLLUTION PREVENTION, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Technology, Energy, Environmental Engineering, Ecology and Ecosystems, biomass, energy conservation, environmental sustainability, sustainable development, biotechnology, waste minimization, conservation, alternative energy source, renewable energy, resource recovery, livestock, energy efficiency, waste management, renewable resource, community based, energy technology
Progress and Final Reports:
Original Abstract