Sheland Farms producing renewable energy

ELLISBURG, N.Y. -- Sheland Farms is the first farm in Northern New York that is now producing renewable energy with an Anaerobic Digester. Tuesday both local and state officials were on hand to discuss the project.

"And that was no easy task and it was a task that was completed with a great deal of partnership," said Jim Wright, (R) Senator - Watertown

Owner of Sheland Farms, Doug Shelmidine says the million dollar project took over five years to complete. But what exactly is an Anaerobic Digester? Shelmidine explains.

"Well basically what we're doing here is we're taking cow pop and we're making it into power. We're on one hand doing that. We're putting it in a big tank, heating it up and we're letting the microbes and bacteria grow and they release methane and then we're taking that methane gas and burning it in an engine set, powering a generator and creating power," said Doug Shelmidine, Owner of Sheland Farms.

And not just renewable energy, the digester also produces bedding for the farms 550 dairy cows. Before the digester went on line Sheland Farms was spending 45-thousand dollars just on bedding for the cows and about 40-thousand in overall electric costs. Now that money can be spent here locally.

Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets, Patrick Hooker says this type of project shows the rest of the country what New York State can do.

"So were producing this wonderful product that we need milk and at the same time you know with a little added technology we're able to provide energy as well and have a more environmentally sustainable system. It's a really nice almost close loop. Benefits, benefits, benefits all the way around this," said Patrick Hooker, Commissioner of the Department of Ags & Markets.

The project also helps the farm reduce it's dependency on foreign oil and improve it's crop production. There are nine other Anaerobic Digester's online in New York State.

energy can't meet demand

Behind the shortage are the growing number of states requiring utilities to include clean energy in their power mix, as well as surging demand from big businesses.

By 2010, clean-energy demand will outpace generation by at least 37% unless a rush of projects is built, says a report due out next week from the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Under laws in 25 states, clean energy — such as wind, solar and biomass — must constitute up to 30% of a utility's energy portfolio in five to 15 years. In 2003, just 10 states had such requirements. Also, growing concerns about power plants' global-warming emissions have led consumers and businesses to boost clean-energy purchases by 46% a year since 2003. Much of that is fueled by corporations, which have increased their green power purchases twenty-fivefold since 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency says. "Demand is growing faster than people expected," says NREL senior analyst Lori Bird.

Utilities and customers typically don't buy renewable energy itself. Rather, they buy renewable-energy credits — premiums above standard electric prices that subsidize a generator for each kilowatt hour of power it produces. Consumers, for instance, can pay up to $10 extra on their monthly utility bill or buy credits online.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Renewable Energy | Shortage | NREL

Meanwhile, green energy, mostly from wind farms, has expanded 30% a year, NREL says. But new wind capacity has been slowed by a worldwide turbine shortage and local opposition to wind projects.

Partly as a result, renewable-energy prices have doubled the past couple of years in Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Plains states and have risen up to 50% in the West, say green-energy marketers Green Mountain Energy and 3Degrees and broker Evolution Markets. In the Mid-Atlantic, wind-price increases bumped the average monthly premium on utility bills for green-energy consumers to $10.50 from $6.30, says Green Mountain's John Holtz.

By 2015, New England will face a gap of 1,500 megawatts — enough to power 1.1 million homes — between green-energy resources and what's needed to meet standards, Northeast Utilities says. It will have to import clean energy from Canada, though there are now inadequate transmission lines to do so.