In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Northeast Coordinator and Agriculture Specialist Chris Lent talks to Matt Steiman, the Farm Energy and Livestock Manager at Dickinson College Organic Farm in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, about the farm’s new biodigester. 

A farm-based biodigester can turn cow manure and food waste into natural gas to produce electricity for the farm to use and to sell to the utility grid. 

Matt and Chris discuss Matt’s research over the past 14 years on turning waste streams into biofuels and how that research led to the new biodigester’s design and its installation at the farm.  

The discussion covers the unusual scale of the project, which was designed to manage the manure from 150 dairy cows and up to three tons of food waste daily. The project is meant to demonstrate to mid-sized farms across Pennsylvania and elsewhere that it is possible to manage waste streams in an environmentally sound way by
transforming them into a source of carbon-neutral energy.  

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Biodiesel Use, Handling, and Fuel Quality 

·        Micro-Scale Biogas Production: A Beginners Guide 

·        Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Waters: Factors to Consider 

Other Resources: 

·        Biogas – Dickinson College Organic Farm 

·        Dickinson College YouTube Channel 

·        USDA Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy
Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants 

·        USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) On-Farm Energy Initiative 

Contact Chris Lent at chrisl@ncat.org.          

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