bioenergy at the mu bradford research and extension center
DESCRIPTION
Bioenergy at the MU Bradford Research and Extension Center. Buildings. Utilize Alternative Forms of Energy. Pesticide Storage Facility Passive Heat and Air Exchange. Use ground heat to keep the pesticide storage area above freezing in the winter and cool in the summer. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Bioenergy at the MU Bradford Research and Extension Center
BUILDINGSUtilize Alternative Forms of Energy
Pesticide Storage FacilityPassive Heat and Air Exchange
Use ground heat to keep the pesticide storage area above freezing in the winter and cool in the summer.
Also air exchanges of 6 times per hour
Passive Solar Greenhouse Aren’t all
Greenhouses Solar?
Yes, but a Passive Solar Greenhouse does not use an artificial heat source Instead water,
concrete, or some other heat holding material
Heat Source Black 55 gallon
Barrels filled with water
Rule of Thumb-2.5 gallons/ ft2 of glazing for season extension or 5 gallons/ft2 for all season
Temperature During January
Greenhouse Dailey Low and Water High and Low
0
20
40
60
80
100
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55
Julian Day of the Year
Tem
pera
ture
GH Low Water High Water Low
Passive Solar Greenhouse
Additional Idea South Hip Wall
Plastic being able to be rolled up and down Allow for cooling in
the warmer weather
Can be raised or lowered each day
Sealed down during the winter.
Corn Stove For Our Greenhouse
30 X 40 FT GREENHOUSE CORN STOVE
Corn Stove How Much Corn Do You Use?
In a insulated house on a cold day about 1 bushel/day
On a cold night in the greenhouse about 5-6 bushels A 30 x 96 greenhouse uses about 200 gallons of
propane per night when it is 15 degrees F
Greenhouse
New Outside Furnace in Main Building
Stainless Steel Pallet Burner Saves 9,000
gallons of Propane each year
New Conference Center
Alternative Energy Sources Solar and Wind
Combination 10 kWatt System
700 kwatt/month $75,000
Payback –probably not
Educational Value
Wind Anemometer Wind
Anemometer Project with DNR Measure the wind
quality at 66 ft for one year
Collaboration with Pipeline Freight Company
Building a Machine to compress switchgrass and corn stover into pellets.
Test Fired in our outside
Fuel vs Food Controversy With Cellulostic
Ethanol or Other Biofuel?
Corn-1/3 Ethanol, 1/3 Distillers Grain, 1/3 CO2
Cellulosic Ethanol or Pelleting-100% Fuel No animal feed
Grass Monocultures For Biofuels A monoculture of a
grass will be essentially a desert for wildlife
Livestock?
Cost is driven up by N fertilizer
What if we had a mixed stand?
Diverse Stands Minnesota Study
Published in Science (Tillman et. al., 2006) Found More Biomass and Biofuel Potential When As The Diversity Increased
Use of Natives?
Diverse Stands Use of Native
Legumes for a N source
Also Provide Flexibility for Livestock
Forbs and Legumes
Diverse Stand At MU Bradford
Research and Extension Center Low Input/High
Diverse compared to a High Input/Monoculture 18 different forbs and
legumes Switchgrass and Big
Bluestem Cutting Height Seasonal Harvests
Depending on Need
Monoculture Switchgrass
20% Legume 80% Switchgrass
40% Legume 60% Switchgrass
80% Legume 20% Switchgrass
Cut Height 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6"
Monoculture Big Bluestem
20% Legume 80% Big Bluestem
40% Legume 60% Big Bluestem
80% Legume 20% Big Bluestem
Cut Height 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6" 12" 6"
Type
of
Gras
s M
ix
Total Width = 480' (144 m)
Replicate 3Cutting Date
May July
Replicate 1 Replicate 2Cutting Date
May July October
Type
of
Gras
s M
ix
Cutting Date
May July October
Comparison of Various Crops for Biofuel Production
Compare different crops for their ethanol production capibilities.
Native Warm Season Grasses, Miscanthus, Corn for grain and stover
Treatments Miscanthus Switchgrass Big Bluestem Indiangrass Sweet Sorghum Continuous Corn-Grain Continuous Corn-Grain
and Stover Corn/Soybean rotation
for Grain Tall Fescue as a
control
BioFuels Project Look at Economics
Look at Soil Properties If remove large
amount of biomass what is that going to do to soil properties
Biofuels Nursery Grasses for Ethanol
Switchgrass, Indiangrass, Eastern Gamma, Big Bluestem, Miscanthus
Grains and Sugar Crops for Ethanol Corn, Grain Sorghum,
Sweet Sorghum, Sugar Cane, Sugar Beets
Oil Crops Soybeans, Canola, and
Sunflower
What Are Others Doing at Bradford?
Felix Fritschi Sweet Sorghum
Varieties N timing
Bill Wiebold Corn Stover
removal Cover crops
QUESTIONS?