(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/11/2023) Some electric farm vehicles of the future could be powered less by plugs and more by animal waste. A team of Michigan State University researchers is studying ways to generate renewable energy from dairy farm waste to charge electric vehicles (EVs).
A July 19 demonstration workshop led by MSU Professor Wei Liao showcased his “novel research” linking dairy operations to the auto industry. Liao demonstrated a mobile charging unit powered by waste and running an electric tractor.
Liao, who teaches in MSU’s Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) and directs the Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), was joined by MSU animal science professor Barry Bradford, BAE professor Ajit Srivastava, dairy farm manager Jim Good and BAE research specialist and ADREC manager Sibel Uludag-Demirer.
The project is funded by MSU AgBioResearch, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, MSU Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agriculture Research Service.
During the demonstration, the team showcased both the mobile charging unit and the Bollinger Motors tractor operating on renewable electricity, both designed by Srivastava.
Srivastava said he’s been working on the tractor design, a light-duty tractor used for mild cultivation, spraying and weeds since 2021. It’s charged by the mobile unit along with solar power.
The energy from the mobile renewable EV charging station comes from an anaerobic digester, which breaks down organic matter without oxygen to produce biogas.
The biogas can then be burned to generate electricity and heat, or cleaned and used as renewable natural gas.
The charging station is also equipped with an external combustion engine.
Liao said his next goal is to implement mobile EV charging units on small-and medium-sized dairy farms, as the state continues shifting towards EV production.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has long expressed her goal of transitioning Michigan to electric vehicles, including in her Barbie marketing campaign on the app formerly known as Twitter.
Recently, she signed a formal document promising to partner with Ontario on developing the emerging electric vehicle industry.
The Governor also proposed $10 million to start the transition of the state’s fleet of 14,000 vehicles to EV’s, which was brought down to $1 million from the General Fund for an analysis on EV infrastructure needs in the final Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
But Liao's goal applies specifically to dairy farmers in rural communities. He wants to give them a way to both charge their own EVs and generate revenue doing so.
Despite economic pressures that have prompted some parts of the U.S. dairy industry to consolidate into larger-scale productions, around 90% of dairy farmers still operate on small-and medium-sized farms of fewer than 1,000 cows, MSU’s team reported.
Dairy also accounts for nearly 5% of the state’s gross domestic product, with $24 billion generated annually and over 111,000 jobs supported.
Michigan’s dairy industry specifically is sixth in U.S. dairy cash receipts, or the amount of money earned from dairy products.
Liao said currently about 45% of the carbon in animal feed ends up in manure and is partially released as methane gas.
If farmers can then use the waste in other ways, like producing electricity, “part of the climate problem becomes part of the solution.”
“That’s just a win-win,” Liao said. “We can achieve the carbon neutrality of dairy farms and can similarly reduce emissions for the transportation sector.”
MSU already converts food and animal organic waste at its South Campus Anaerobic Digester (SCAD), an above-ground steel tank that can hold 450,000 gallons and has digested roughly 60,000 tons of manure since its start date in 2013.
In 2022, SCAD digested 12,500 tons of manure from the MSU dairy farm and 15,000 tons of food waste from MSU’s cafeterias and greater Lansing.
In exchange, it produces approximately 2.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Of that, 10% powers the digester, and the remainder helps power 10 buildings around MSU’s south campus.
Liao said the mobile units won’t have enough power to run an entire farm, but will have the capacity to induce closer to 30 kilowatt hours of renewable energy per day, or close to 10,950 kilowatt hours per year.
Bradford said even some power could help farmers charge batteries or power small tractors.
“If you could charge (these tractors) yourself without paying a lot and having to deal with how you’re going to charge them, that could potentially be a game changer for how jobs are done on dairy farms,” Bradford said.
He added that electric charging stations on dairy farms could become lucrative as the alternative vehicle becomes more popular, and visitors could charge their cars while visiting a dairy farm.
“Because it takes a little while to charge EVs, longer than it does to fill a tank of gas, farms can keep visitors occupied by selling them a sandwich or an ice cream cone,” Bradford said. “Maybe they can do a $5 tour of the farm. This could be a more mixed funding model where you have agritourism, energy, and, of course, milk.”
