So that my reputation can be rehabilitated somewhat in this newsgroup, let me
send you a copy of an email sent to the poultry grower newsgroup about a
project we have become involved in.
You may be interested in an initiative taking place in Kentucky. The
commissioner of agriculture has expressed his support early on. We are now
working with his assistants and a representative from the governor's office
as well as department of energy and the department of natural resources.
It can be done anywhere and government support is not critical. Once it is
done here it can be done again elsewhere.
The point of this cooperative is to support the growers through cutting
costs, providing expert assistance, and help with the down payment on the new
combustion technology. We will also locate, buy, ship and distribute the
biomass (wood or other) to the farmers using alternative combustion
technology. So far Tyson has been very cooperative. We expect similar
approaches from other integrators.
The handling of the litter is another benefit offered by the cooperative.
============================================================
To whom it may concern;
Kentucky Enrichment Inc. is going forward with establishing the poultry
cooperative in Western Kentucky. We have two goals initially.
The first is to make certain that all of the poultry litter produced in
Western Kentucky has a safe and ecologically sound application available. We
are working with farmers and livestock producers to ensure that land
application is taken advantage of and that animal feed is explored.
Secondly, we are working to find a method to reduce the cost of heating and
cooling the many poultry houses in Western Kentucky. We have identified
biomass combustion technologies which are appropriate to the area. Fuels are
being identified and quantified. Wood waste is the primary source but
switchgrass mixed with small amounts of coal fines is the other most likely
alternative fuel. Corn and corn stover are two backup fuels.
Western Kentucky University, Department of Agriculture, is already doing test
plots of switchgrass in Kentucky. This Kentucky native grass has the same
BTU rating per ton as dry wood and can be grown on otherwise nonproductive
and marginal soils in Kentucky.
The engineering of the redesign of the poultry houses to make them much more
energy efficient and to utilize passive and active solar heating, improved
ventilation and natural cooling was begun today. Former Harvard instructor
Kricket Smith-Gary will undertake this phase of the design. Kricket is
currently located in Lawrenceburg, KY. She has a Harvard degree in
architecture and an MBA.
The combustion technology issues are being addressed by our engineers. They
have a very innovative and well established boiler system which will not
increase the pollution problems of Western Kentucky while utilizing our
abundant renewable fuel resources.
The heat transfer system to bring the heat to the poultry in the broiler
houses is being redesigned by Anthony Taylor, a heating systems engineer for
Consolidated Mechanical Services, Owensboro, KY.
Phillip Atherton of Advance Feeding Systems, Livia, KY, is the person on the
scene with the poultry farmers and is negotiating the permissions required of
Tyson Poultry to implement these changes. He designs and builds many of the
poultry buildings now being built in Western Kentucky, Southern Indiana and
Western Tennessee.
We already have obtained their concurrence in several major changes to the
design of the poultry buildings.
We have learned that this winter's fuel bill for a farm of eight broiler
houses using natural gas will have a heating bill of over $60,000. A propane
fueled complex of the same size will have a heating bill of over $90,000.
The design changes and the switch to biomass (wood) heating alone will
reduce the heating bill by about 20%. We may be able to reduce it by 30%
with additional work on the insulation and redesigned heat transfer.
It may be that the only profit the Western Kentucky poultry farmer makes next
winter will be the savings in fuel and additional revenue from poultry
litter. The utilization of Kentucky renewable fuels and the redesign of the
poultry house to demand less heat while increasing the ventilation for the
birds will improve the economics of the broiler business in Kentucky, improve
the health of the flocks, and put us on the path to reducing our
non-renewable energy consumption.
Regards,
Cornelius A. Van Milligen
Kentucky Enrichment Inc.
2725 Russell Rd
Utica, Kentucky 42376
270-275-9164 voice
270-275-4505 fax
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