Two educational webinars planned March 14, 2012 will examine finance issues and technology options for installing and maintaining anaerobic digester systems. The webinars, which are free of charge, are part of the Renewable Energy Education Field Day series–educational programs to provide farmers, ranchers, landowners and community leaders with information useful in deciding whether to implement a renewable energy technology in their operation.
The webinars, each three hours in length, will address two critical issues in the decision-making process: financing installation and operation of a digester system, as well as the rate of return on the investment, and technology options–what they are and how they are used.
Financing an Anaerobic Digester System: In this 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. (CST) webinar, dairy farmers and community leaders will share their first-hand experiences financing, installing and maintaining digester systems. You’ll also hear from commercial and private lenders with experience financing digester operations. Topics will include return on investment, private funding, government/private partnership funding options, cost of construction, potential revenue generation streams, avoided environmental costs, tax incentives and cost of operation, including management and labor costs.
Technical Aspects of Anaerobic Digester Systems: This 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST) webinar will examine digester technologies–psychrophilic (covered lagoon), mesophilic (plug flow and completely mixed), and thermophilic (completely mixed). Farmer/operators will discuss why they selected a specific technology for their operation, as well as their operational and management experiences with those respective technologies.
The March 14 webinars are a collaboration of Farm Foundation, NFP, USDA Rural Development, USDA Office of Energy Policy & New Uses, the AgStar Program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, and the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative of the University of Wisconsin.
Both webinars will originate from Rooms 325-326 of the Pyle Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There is no charge to attend but registration is required. To register, visit the Farm Foundation, NFP website at http://www.farmfoundation.org/webcontent/Renewable-Energy-Education-Field-Days-Anaerobic-Digester-Webinars-1752.aspx?z=na&a=1752
Register to view the webinars from your office or home computer, or register to be present at the Pyle Center. For those participating at the Pyle Center, lunch will be provided between the webinars to allow more opportunities for interaction with the speakers.
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