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Many questions as Wisconsin seeks anaerobic digester proposals

 

Wisconsin wants to improve water quality with new large-scale anaerobic digesters for animal waste from multiple farms.

Sara Walling with the Department of Natural Resources tells Brownfield they want projects that not only improve groundwater but help farmers.  “We really want to encourage and ensure that there’s some manure management innovation associated with that through additional water treatment, manure treatment, technologies that are able to provide a number of potential nutrient products back to the farmers.”

Walling says developers will be reaching out to farmers as they try to build a consortium of manure sources and methane gas or electricity users.

Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources and the Public Service Commission held an informational meeting in Oshkosh last week.  Clint Fandrich from the PSC says they’re not sure what potential developers might offer.  “We didn’t want to prescribe exactly how the systems would be put together or what the agreements would be between farmers or any other group to be able to put a proposal forward, so the idea is that it could be multiple systems that are integrated. It could be one system where all of the farms contribute into a centralized system.”

Governor Scott Walker proposed the digesters for environmentally sensitive parts of the state after the EPA criticized the DNR’s pollution monitoring efforts.

The anaerobic digester topic was also discussed at the Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo over the weekend.  State Representative Gary Tauchen said he is concerned the cost of one or more digesters could run over 100-million dollars.  There are only 20-million dollars available through the Focus on Energy program.

The RFP seeks applicants from around the state, but the proposals will get extra points for addressing water and manure issues in the Lake Michigan basin.