As strange as it may sound, manure may one day create electricity. This possibility could be what struggling livestock producers need to survive financially.

“Anaerobic digesters are making it possible for livestock producers to treat manure to create electricity,” said Duane Hanusa of Alliant Energy. “Not only does the process promote renewable energy, but it is an environmentally friendly process that helps control odor and possibly provide added income to a [livestock] producer.”

The idea for the digesters began several years ago, with many parties providing funding, oversight and technical assistance, including the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Natural Resource Conservations Services, Iowa State University Extension and Alliant Energy, said Jim Bodensteiner, DNR program planner for the Energy and Waste Management Bureau.

“In 1998, the Department of Natural Resources formed an advisory committee to support the development of [the] Methane Energy Recovery Program,” Bodensteiner said.

“The program fits well with the DNR’s overall mission of conserving and enhancing Iowa’s natural resources, in that methane recovery provides a renewable energy resource, [an] increase [in] the size of alternative energy resources, and [an] offsetting [of] fossil fuel consumption,” he said.

On August 24, 1999, the Methane Energy Recovery Program Advisory Committee unanimously recommended that Top Deck Holsteins, Inc. be selected to conduct a methane energy recovery project, according to a final report submitted about the project.

“Alliant Energy provided about 40 percent of the costs of the Top Deck project, which added up to be around $250,000,” Hanusa said. “The DNR and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service provided an additional $157,900.”

According to the final report presented about the Top Deck Project, power is derived from an engine/generator/micro turbine system, and heat captured from that system is used to maintain the digester temperature and supply heat to the dairy center. To actually heat the manure for digestion, hot water is circulated from the engine/generator through separate steel pipe heat exchangers installed in the digester and a preheat tank. The preheat tank is arranged in a grid loop that measures seven feet high, six feet wide, and 11 feet long.

“Top Deck is a success story that can be replicated,” Bodensteiner said. “The digester is controlling odor and heat is being captured from the engine/generator/micro turbine system and is used to maintain the digester temperature and supply heat to the dairy center.

“The benefits most definitely outweigh the costs under the right conditions; according to our latest records,” he said. “Top Deck’s digester is capable of generating 864,00 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.”