German Visitors Get a Peek at Green Energy Efforts in Pa.
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:04pm.
Carol Ann Gregg
Western Pa. Correspondent
MERCER and CLARION COUNTIES, Pa. — On a whirlwind tour, a group of German farmers, journalists and environmentalists traveled through Ohio and Pennsylvania last week.
Arriving in Columbus, Ohio the evening of July 5, the group spent two-days touring eastern Ohio and then moved into western Pennsylvania.
The German Embassy, the Ecologic (German) Institute, The Environmental Defense Fund, and the National 25x’25 Alliance sponsored the group looking at alternative fuels and ways that American farmers are involved in reducing the dependency on petroleum.
“This tour is an exchange program,” Bruce Arnold, West Chester, member of the 25x’25 committee, said. “It is anticipated that a group from the United States visiting Germany next year.”
The National 25x’25 Alliance fosters a vision that by 2025, American farms, forests and ranches will provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the U.S. while continuing to produce safe, abundant and affordable food, feed and fiber.
The western Pennsylvania leg of the tour showed off some of the efforts for energy independence that are happening here. The group began by stopping at Lake Erie Biofuels, Erie. This plant is the first large-scale biodiesel production in Pennsylvania. Motoring south to Meadville, they stopped to visit with Calvin Ernst, Ernst Conservation Seeds, to learn about warm season grasses for renewable energy production and the oilseed production project using canola and camelina.
In Mercer County, the German visitors learned first-hand about the problems that arise from being an early adopter of new technology when they visited with Rick Koller at Fairview Swiss Cheese, Fredonia. Koller has installed an anaerobic digester to produce 40 million cubic feet of biogas a year. This May when the outside temperatures were over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, some of the bacteria in the digester died. This created the need to cool the water entering the digester. The goal is to have the digester at 92 degrees for optimum performance. As the digester was being installed, the concern was that they would need to heat the water. The need for cooling wasn’t expected.
Koller explained that the computer system has been giving them problems but he anticipates that being worked out soon.
“I anticipate being up and running in about a month,” Koller told his guests. “The system design is good.”
Koller received federal and state grant funds to construct the $2.2 million project. The project has taken nearly four years from conception to operation.
The generator will provide energy for the plant and heat for the cheese storage area. “Swiss cheese must be at 70 degrees while it ages,” Koller said. He is currently spending about $16,000 a month for electricity and another $16,000 for oil.
Working with PennPower, a First Energy Company, it was decided to use a net metering system. The electricity generated at the cheese plant will be subtracted from the regular bill. “The meter on the generator will run backwards,” Koller explained.
The wastewater and sludge from the digester will go through the water treatment facility on the property and is anticipated to be spread on switchgrass land, though that hasn’t be finalized yet.
Following a brief stop in the sales room of the cheese plant, the German guests traveled east on Interstate 80 to the Freeman Tree Farm, Emlenton.
This stop was especially interesting to the German foresters in the trip. George Freeman and his wife Joan greeted the guests and had them sign their guestbook. Then their forestry consultant John Daugherty and Gary Gilmore with the U.S. Forest Service, each took part of the group to learn about the hardwood management practices employed on Freeman’s Clarion County farm.
One research project that was highlighted was the Stewardship Demonstration Area. This 12-acre piece of timberland was divided into six plots. The treatment blocks, two acres each, compared various thinning approaches, including clearcutting. There was also a plot that was left untouched as the control. The project, conducted by was from 1994 until 2004. The area that was clearcut in the early 1990s revealed the degree of regeneration that can take place in Pennsylvania woodlands. A timber sale in 2007 removed salable trees from these 12 acres as well as from areas that had not been clearcut.
“We strive for oak,” Daugherty said.
The German visitors had an opportunity to walk the trails and see the stewardship efforts made by Freeman. Part of the timberland has been fenced to keep the deer out. By encouraging hunting on the property, the deer population has been reduced. The deer enjoy eating the seedlings, which reduces regeneration.
Freeman has nearly 700 acres of woodland that he has developed over the last 30 years. His exemplary stewardship has been showcased at many field days and events on the farm. Freeman enjoys sharing his knowledge with school children and woodlot owners alike.
He was named 1997 Pennsylvania Tree Farmer of the Year and the 1998 National Tree Farmer of the Year for his outstanding stewardship.
After visiting western Pennsylvania, the group headed east to other stops, including Mason-Dixon Farm, Gettysburg. The farm has been generating electricity for its dairy operation for 30 years with its methane digester.
Carol Ann GreggWestern Pa. Correspondent
MERCER and CLARION COUNTIES, Pa. — On a whirlwind tour, a group of German farmers, journalists and environmentalists traveled through Ohio and Pennsylvania last week.
Arriving in Columbus, Ohio the evening of July 5, the group spent two-days touring eastern Ohio and then moved into western Pennsylvania.
The German Embassy, the Ecologic (German) Institute, The Environmental Defense Fund, and the National 25x’25 Alliance sponsored the group looking at alternative fuels and ways that American farmers are involved in reducing the dependency on petroleum.
“This tour is an exchange program,” Bruce Arnold, West Chester, member of the 25x’25 committee, said. “It is anticipated that a group from the United States visiting Germany next year.”
The National 25x’25 Alliance fosters a vision that by 2025, American farms, forests and ranches will provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the U.S. while continuing to produce safe, abundant and affordable food, feed and fiber.
The western Pennsylvania leg of the tour showed off some of the efforts for energy independence that are happening here. The group began by stopping at Lake Erie Biofuels, Erie. This plant is the first large-scale biodiesel production in Pennsylvania. Motoring south to Meadville, they stopped to visit with Calvin Ernst, Ernst Conservation Seeds, to learn about warm season grasses for renewable energy production and the oilseed production project using canola and camelina.
In Mercer County, the German visitors learned first-hand about the problems that arise from being an early adopter of new technology when they visited with Rick Koller at Fairview Swiss Cheese, Fredonia. Koller has installed an anaerobic digester to produce 40 million cubic feet of biogas a year. This May when the outside temperatures were over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, some of the bacteria in the digester died. This created the need to cool the water entering the digester. The goal is to have the digester at 92 degrees for optimum performance. As the digester was being installed, the concern was that they would need to heat the water. The need for cooling wasn’t expected.
Koller explained that the computer system has been giving them problems but he anticipates that being worked out soon.
“I anticipate being up and running in about a month,” Koller told his guests. “The system design is good.”
Koller received federal and state grant funds to construct the $2.2 million project. The project has taken nearly four years from conception to operation.
The generator will provide energy for the plant and heat for the cheese storage area. “Swiss cheese must be at 70 degrees while it ages,” Koller said. He is currently spending about $16,000 a month for electricity and another $16,000 for oil.
Working with PennPower, a First Energy Company, it was decided to use a net metering system. The electricity generated at the cheese plant will be subtracted from the regular bill. “The meter on the generator will run backwards,” Koller explained.
The wastewater and sludge from the digester will go through the water treatment facility on the property and is anticipated to be spread on switchgrass land, though that hasn’t be finalized yet.
Following a brief stop in the sales room of the cheese plant, the German guests traveled east on Interstate 80 to the Freeman Tree Farm, Emlenton.
This stop was especially interesting to the German foresters in the trip. George Freeman and his wife Joan greeted the guests and had them sign their guestbook. Then their forestry consultant John Daugherty and Gary Gilmore with the U.S. Forest Service, each took part of the group to learn about the hardwood management practices employed on Freeman’s Clarion County farm.
One research project that was highlighted was the Stewardship Demonstration Area. This 12-acre piece of timberland was divided into six plots. The treatment blocks, two acres each, compared various thinning approaches, including clearcutting. There was also a plot that was left untouched as the control. The project, conducted by was from 1994 until 2004. The area that was clearcut in the early 1990s revealed the degree of regeneration that can take place in Pennsylvania woodlands. A timber sale in 2007 removed salable trees from these 12 acres as well as from areas that had not been clearcut.
“We strive for oak,” Daugherty said.
The German visitors had an opportunity to walk the trails and see the stewardship efforts made by Freeman. Part of the timberland has been fenced to keep the deer out. By encouraging hunting on the property, the deer population has been reduced. The deer enjoy eating the seedlings, which reduces regeneration.
Freeman has nearly 700 acres of woodland that he has developed over the last 30 years. His exemplary stewardship has been showcased at many field days and events on the farm. Freeman enjoys sharing his knowledge with school children and woodlot owners alike.
He was named 1997 Pennsylvania Tree Farmer of the Year and the 1998 National Tree Farmer of the Year for his outstanding stewardship.
After visiting western Pennsylvania, the group headed east to other stops, including Mason-Dixon Farm, Gettysburg. The farm has been generating electricity for its dairy operation for 30 years with its methane digester.
