Hi CAVM,
Tuesday, March 28, 2000, 10:32:44 AM, you wrote:
Cac> Does anyone have an opinion as to whether compost made from dairy
Cac> manure can be considered organic if no supplements are added
Cac> during the composting process or do I have to consider the feed
Cac> given to the dairy cows?
See how the organic certification scam complicates things?
Cac> Also, a similar question, I have been asked to work on a project
Cac> involving anaerobic digestion of dairy manure. Would the effluent
Cac> from the digester be considered organic or do I have to consider
Cac> the feed given to the dairy cattle?
I'm not going to address what's organic.
First of all, anaerobic digestion of dairy manure will produce lots of
gas and little mud. The effluent is actually the spent bodies of
bacteria. But instead of reproducing themselves (aerobic bacteria
reproduce 9 times more) anaerobic bacteria go to work and make
methane. This means that instead of requiring energy (to oxygenate the
mixture for the aerobic bacteria, which demands lots of it), anaerobic
digestion *produces* energy - the plant can be run off the methane it
produces.
If you really want something efficient, check out the patented triple
anaerobic / aerobic processes that feed each other. A few of these
operate in the states and the mangers of these plants speak highly of
them. If I recall, one of them is in Fayetteville AR (this huge file
is at my Jalisco office and I'm in Veracruz at present).
Douglas
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