Savanna, Ill.-USDA is investing $1 million in a research grant to develop a farm-operated system that would use corn stover to produce electricity, plus an ash containing rich amounts of phosphorus and potash and the ability to convert air-derived nitrogen into fertilizer. “Dr. Peter Schubert, senior R&D director with Packer Engineering of Naperville, Ill., which is joining with N-Ovations of Savanna and Northern Illinois University at DeKalb on the project, told Green Markets the objective is to make the American farmer energy independent by using less foreign petroleum. Others with the two technical firms claim they can have the system, which can operate from a short flatbed, on the market in about three years. Economic development boosters say if successful there could be 10,000 new manufacturing jobs in the area. Schubert said after harvest the stover is gasified to be burned in a micro-turbine to generate electricity. He said the turbine, about the size of a breadbox, operates on the same principle as a jet engine ?Çô it generates heat from the burned gas, which can be used in a variety of farm operations or can be returned to the system to make it more efficient. “What’s left in a process that is very similar to oven cleaning is a dry ash that contains the P and K that was in the original plant material.” he explained. “A farmer can take the ash and put it back in the soil and there’s no net loss of minerals. The 65 KWs of electricity can be used on the farm like a backup generator or can be sold back to the local utility through net metering, which lowers the farmer’s electrical bill. Or part of it can be used to generate artificial lightning to pull nitrous oxide from the air and turn it into nitrogen fertilizer.” Schubert estimated that the cost would be $200,000, but he doesn’t think that would keep farmers from making the investment.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain