December 15, 2007

Central Vermont Public Service, Cow Power Program

Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

Renewable energy projects often reflect the character of the local economy and locally available natural resources. Solar energy power generation systems are a natural for the Southwest but are less applicable in the more-cloudy and congested Northeast. The southeastern U.S. lacks the wind velocity profiles to justify installation of wind turbines, the flowing rivers required by hydroelectric projects, and the geysers essential to geothermal power. Mother Nature didn’t consider state boundaries when distributing her natural resources. Nevertheless, many regions are getting creative about developing renewable energy generation projects that support the local economy and make the most of available resources.

 

Take Vermont, for example. Think of Vermont’s bucolic landscape and you may visualize dairy farms. But what you may not envision—because only 2% of the U.S. population is now involved in farming of any type—are the economic challenges that dairy farmers face, including issues of manure disposal, rapidly increasing costs of bedding material, and the rising cost of electricity to operate the business. Dairy farming is capital cost intensive, and limited land availability makes expanding many of Vermont’s family farms impossible or cost prohibitive. Diversification of the product line and more efficient internal operations are the keys to continued dairy farm profitability.

And that’s where a new program at Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) fits into the picture. CVPS Cow Power, as the program is called, promotes development of and reliance on renewable energy in Vermont by creating a market for energy generated from a renewable biogas fuel derived from cow manure.

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