OnFarm OilseedBiodiesel Project - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Title: OnFarm OilseedBiodiesel Project


1
On-Farm Oil Seed / Biodiesel Project State Line
Farm, Shaftsbury, VT
2
A lot of farms and farmers in the Northeast are
looking for new, non-commodity enterprises.
A lot of farms are also looking for sources of
renewable energy
3
Our goal

• Farms working together to make their own fuel,
  using their own raw materials, with sustainable
  practices.

4
Making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil in the
old dairy barn
5
The first crop of oil seed crops, but no way to
extract the oil for fuel.
6
In 2005 an oil seed press was purchased.
7
Other farmers helped buy the press, and grew test
plots of sunflower, canola, other oil seed crops.
8
May 4, 2006 preparing to plant
9
Brillion seed drill used to sow canola
10
Canola in flower on July 1
11
Canola seed pods on August 1
12
Canola seed nearly dry on August 18
13
Sunflowers on July 1
14
Sunflowers on August 1
15
Sunflowers on October 2
16
The crop looks good now, but deer and bird
damage, or diseases can be a problem.
17
2007 sunflower variety trial at State Line Farm
yields ranged from 1,247 to 2,396 lb/acre
18
Get the 1960s combine ready
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
In northern VT canola trials with 24
varieties had an average yield of 1,800 lb/acre
22
First set up for pressing the seed for oil and
meal
23
a temporary settling tank
24
Seed meal livestock feed, worth about 200
per ton, roughly twice that if organic
25
(No Transcript)
26
Chinese oil press recently arrived at Rainville
Farm in VT
27
Sweet sorghum (for ethanol) August 1
28
old Sweet sorghum press
29
Extracting sweet sorghum juice
30
This still makes ethanol from fermented sugar
crop juices
31
Scaling the project up in 2006with funding from
VT Sustainable Jobs Fund
32
John and Steve designed and built the building
33
(No Transcript)
34
Vermonts first on-farm oil seed processing
facility
35
(No Transcript)
36
Putting the system together many used parts!
37
methanol condensor
seed
oil press
reaction vessel
oil tank
farmer
seedmeal
fuel drain
glycerin drain
38
(No Transcript)
39
Farm fresh biodiesel but not ASTM tested
(thats another story)
40
Future work

• Oil and alcohol crop production trials
• Economic analysis
• Comparing processing equipment
• Market development, co-operative formation?
• Regulatory issues

41
Project reports at www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry cl
ick Energy on the Farm