Author: farm-energy

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Diverse Plant Mixtures for Sustainable Biofuels


Mixtures offer advantages over monocultures. Michael Bomford photo.

Learn the benefits of planting diverse prairie grass mixtures for biofuel feedstocks.

Table of Contents

Monocultures versus polycultures

The vast majority of farm-based bioenergy production currently relies on monocultures: pure stands of a single plant species such as corn or soybeans. Yet researchers have long known that plant mixtures or polycultures offer numerous advantages, including resistance to plant diseases, insect pests, weeds …

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New Uses for Crude Glycerin from Biodiesel Production

Introduction

Glycerol (also known as glycerin) is a major byproduct in the biodiesel manufacturing process. In general, for every 100 pounds of biodiesel produced, approximately 10 pounds of crude glycerol are created. As the biodiesel industry is rapidly expanding, a glut of crude glycerol is being created. Because this glycerol is expensive to purify for use in the food, pharmaceutical, or cosmetics industries, biodiesel producers must seek alternative methods for its disposal. Various methods for disposal and utilization of this …

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Soil Erosion and Sustainable Biofuel Production

Learn strategies for growing feedstocks while reducing erosion.

Erosion near the edge of a freshly planted field after heavy spring rain. Bare soil is particularly susceptible to erosion. Crop residues can help hold soil in place. Photo: Michael Bomford.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Soil Erosion

There is strong interest in production and use of agricultural crops for biofuels. However, these crops, like all others, need to be grown in …

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Biodiesel Table of Contents

biodiesel barrel
Photo: Karla Castillo

TOPICS:

Introduction to Biodiesel

Oilseed Crops and Other Feedstocks for Biodiesel Production

VT Sunflower field
VT Sunflowers for biodiesel. Photo:Vern Grubinger, UVM Extension
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Farm Energy Efficiency and Conservation Table of Contents

Articles and Fact Sheets

Introduction to Energy Efficiency and Conservation on the Farm

Farm Building: Energy Efficiency and Conservation

  • Livestock Buildings – see below under Livestock Production Efficiency
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Greenhouse Efficiency and Conservation Case Studies

Case studies of greenhouse growers and other farmers using alternative energy for heating in greenhouses and running equipment have been posted by UVM Extension at: On-Farm Energy Case Studies.

The case studies describe systems that use biodiesel, coal, log wood, shell corn, waste vegetable oil, waste wood chips,and wood pellets to heat greenhouses.

In addition, there are links to case studies of on-farm biodiesel production.

 

 

image:Wood_boiler_and_greenhouses.JPG image:Greenhouse_corn__boiler.JPG

 

 

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Energy-Efficient Refrigeration for Farms

Agricultural producers use a variety of refrigeration systems to extend the shelf life of perishable materials. Cooling not only reduces the potential for spoiling due to bacterial growth but also reduces humidity levels for some products. Refrigeration may also be used during sorting, processing, packaging, and storage.

Fruit and vegetable farmers must cool many of their products quickly after harvest; removal of field heat is important to maintaining produce quality and shelf life.

This large refrigerated room is used to
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Ballasting Tractors for Optimal Fuel Efficiency

Tractor ballasting influences the efficiency and energy use of tractor operation. Ballasting determines the amount of slip in any given field condition, affecting fuel consumption, field operation time, and tire wear. Total tractor weight also has serious effects on compaction, transmission life, tire life, and tractor safety and stability.

In addition to the overall weight of the tractor, the way that the weight is distributed between the axles has a huge impact on tractor performance. Over-ballasting a tractor wastes fuel …

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Optimize Wheel Slip to Save Fuel

Tractors and tires should be maintained to optimize tractor wheel slippage at 10% to 15%. Photo: Robert Grisso.

 

Introduction

Tire slip occurs when the tires are turning faster than the ground speed of the tractor. As a result, less than 60% to 70% of the power that a tractor engine develops is used to pull an implement through the soil. It could even drop to 50% on soft and sandy soils.

Some of the power developed by a tractor engine …

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Insulation Know-How

With volatile energy costs, a good return on investment may be obtained by adding insulation to homes, offices, farm shops and other heated buildings such as greenhouse headhouses or boiler rooms. Insulation can provide benefits in winter by keeping expensive heat in and in summer by keeping unwanted heat out.

Although all building materials have some insulation value, the term “insulation” usually refers to materials with a relatively high resistance to heat flow that are designed specifically for that purpose. …

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