I hope I don't outsmart myself with this double-reverse April Fools Day diary. Reading my headline, one might assume that this diary is a joke. It's not. Dane County, Wisconsin farmers and local officials held a ceremony yesterday to mark the start of operation of a manure digester that will generate electricity.
Thursday, Dane County officials were joined by farmers and utility officials and others to flip a ceremonial switch and power up the state's first cooperative manure digester.
Article in the Wisconsin State Journal is here.
The manure digester is located just north of the little village I call home. I can verify that this area produces plenty of manure. When the wind is from the north and the temperature is above freezing, it's quite obvious to anyone with a sense of smell.
I'm not complaining about the odor of our "dairy-air." That's just part of the charm of living away from central Madison. Here are a few more details:
When it is in full operation, the digester plant with its three huge tanks will process manure from three adjacent farms and a total of 2,500 cows. It will remove about 60 percent of weed-growing phosphorus from the manure. The digester will produce methane and that methane will be used to power generators that will churn out $2 million a year in electricity, enough to allow Alliant Energy to power 2,500 homes.
Pretty frickin' awesome, wouldn't you agree? 2,500 cows = power for 2,500 homes. The cheese, milk and butter are almost like a bonus.
I think it's obvious that this form of energy production is a lot safer than nuclear power and more secure than relying on foreign oil.