Schumer Tours Morrisville's Biodigester - Equipment has Potential to Save Farmers Money, Reduce Waste and Generate Clean Energy; Discuess How to Expand Technology Around the State

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer toured SUNY Morrisville's biodigester and met with local officials, scientists and farmers. Biodigesters are an innovative product with the capability to produce massive savings for families, farmers and businesses. Schumer discussed ideas for expanding the technology and making it more affordable so more farmers can take advantage of it around the country. Currently biodigesters are very expensive, costing up to $1 million dollars apiece. SUNY Morrisville is working to make the costs far less.

"Clean Energy development represents one of Upstate New York's best opportunities to create jobs, grow local economies and protect our environment," Schumer said. " SUNY Morrisville's is at the cutting edge of clean energy in New York and I pledge to do everything I can do to help them develop this technology and make sure it's used to reduce costs and save energy for farming families throughout New York and the Nation, and that the college's good work is being recognized."

Biodigesters convert organic wastes into a nutrient rich liquid fertilizer and biogas, a renewable source of electrical and heat energy. Biodigesters help families and farmers by providing a cheap source of fuel, preventing environmental pollution from runoff from animal pens, and reducing diseases caused by the use of untreated manure as fertilizer. Families living in rural communities throughout New York could convert animal and vegetable waste into energy thereby reducing their cost of living and helping them to balance their budget. In addition to lowering costs, families or organizations that own biodigesters can often times use them to produce revenue by selling excesses electricity generated back to the grid.

The biodigester system being developed at Morrisville State College was first designed by David Palmer when he worked for a private sector agriculture company. Currently, the school's digester biologically treats dairy manure and other organic waste generated on campus to produce a stable byproduct with improved physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. The current system produces biogas which is captured, and combusted to generate heat and power using a 50 kW engine/generator set. A boiler that runs on either biogas or propane is also used to heat water during the startup phase of the system and anytime the engine generator set is not running. Already, the technology has helped the school save money and energy; perhaps most importantly the technology has laid the foundation for clean energy development in the region and throughout New York State.

Today at Morrisville, Schumer discussed the technology, its potential and how it can work to save money for families and businesses living in rural communities throughout Upstate New York and across the country. Schumer pledged to work with local famers and SUNY Morrisville to make sure that this school's biodigester has the resources it needs to develop and expand so that more families can take advantage of its benefits.

Schumer added, "Particularly in times like these every dime that families can save on their bottom line is a huge help, and in this situation we're talking about thousands- that's a massive game changer for people in Upstate, especially for our rural communities. We've got to explore this technology."

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