Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle announced earlier this month that he wants 25 percent of the state’s energy usage to be renewable by 2025. The governor’s remarks have started a debate on campus on how UW-Platteville can shift more of its energy consumption to renewable sources, and several UW-P faculty members think they have a good idea.

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According to the Pioneer Farm’s Web site, the facility can hold a maximum of 250 bulls and 200 cows on its 430 acres. If a large percentage of this waste is put into the anaerobic digester, those involved say a great deal of fuel could be produced.

Chris Baxter, assistant professor of agronomy, and Tim Zauche, chair of the chemistry and engineering physics department at UW-P have written a proposal to bring an anaerobic digester to the Pioneer Farm.

Baxter said an anaerobic digester is a container without air that breaks down organic material, in the form of organic waste from cows, and produces biodiesel gas and fertilizer. The waste is collected in a tank and sealed off from oxygen. Anaerobic bacteria is added to the tank to break down the waste and eventually biodiesel gas is produced. This fuel is 60 percent methane, and then can be burned in a modified engine to produce energy.

According to the Pioneer Farm’s Web site, the facility can hold a maximum of 250 bulls and 200 cows on its 430 acres. With that number of cows comes a great deal of waste and, with an anaerobic digester on campus, Baxter said that could mean a great deal of fuel.

Baxter said a very rough estimate of the cost of an anaerobic digester, based upon the initial study done by him and Zauche, is between $1.7 and $2.2 million. Baxter said there is currently no plan to increase segregated fees in order to pay for the anaerobic digester. The proposal would need to be passed by administration in order to receive funding.

“It is important to show the anaerobic digester can be incorporated into class and it is beneficial to students and the campus,” Baxter said.

Zauche said the digester will allow the entire UW-P campus to run on 7 percent renewable energy by next year, and Pioneer Farm to run on 25 percent renewable energy.

“If the campus were to switch to biodegradable plastic at the Pioneer Student Center, all of the food waste and plastic could be added to the digester,” Zauche said. “[This process] would remove a lot of trash from campus everyday.”

“If all the stars align, ground breaking will take place this summer,” Baxter said.