Manure to Energy Summit September 8, 2011
Why the Summit?
In animal intensive areas of the Chesapeake Bay region there is more animal manure produced than farmers can sustainably use as fertilizer. If manure application exceeds crop uptake rates, nitrogen and phosphorus that are not taken up can runoff into streams, rivers and the Bay. Finding economically viable alternative uses for this excess manure is critical to Bay restoration efforts and for a healthy farm economy. Technologies exist to produce energy from manure, yet to date, very few projects are “on the ground” in the Bay watershed. The summit will explore some of the obstacles to implementation with the goal of identifying policy solutions that will help overcome these hurdles.
