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02-15-2008 Energy Index for Composting - positive or negative?

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What's your compost energy index? - an essay published this month by W Brinton in Biocycle, questions how much fossil-carbon energy is being expended making compost carbon-humus. The articles describes that the a energy input in composting is fossil fuel- largely diesel- from trucking, loading, mixing, turning and aerating. This is especially large for turning machines, where consumption is measured in the range of 0.05 to 0.1/GpHPh (gal per horsepower hour) and depends on the make and the load. Woods End is re-publishing its 1995 USDA-PA compost study with updated tables showing in 2007 terms what the energy cost per ton was in dependence on methods. According to Brinton, discussions about the value of sequestered carbon in relation to global warming tend to overlook the large fossil-energy inputs which offset the apparent benefits. In the examples, turning twice a week meant investing 8.4 mBTU of energy to stabilize 4.9 mBTU of carbon (an energy index -EI- of 1.72). Bucket loader turning every two-weeks gave an EI of 0.88 and self-powered turner once every 2-weeks an EI of 0.51- in other words, all the way from negative to positive. See Energy Index or visit the Woods End bookstore for the Compost Intensiveness report.

01-22-2008 UK composts fail Consumer Agency tests - compare poorly to peat products.

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An British consumer agency report sharply critcised UK compost quality this week, after independent growing trials were conducted. Four cultivars were ranked for germination, growth and vigor in 24 composts obtained on the open market. Only one of the composts could be recommended by the group. John Innes and Peat-based products out performed the green waste composts.

The UK is under intense pressure both to meet EU deadlines for organic waste diversion as well as new targets requiring growing media to be peat-free by 2010. “There is still a long way to go before peat-free composts are of reliable quality" the Agencies garden Editor writes Gardening Which?. The Agency report did not show analyses for the composts, but in Woods End view its a predictable result: typical of immature composts, elevated in salts - two test traits that are significantly underrated in UK compost standards (and also in the USA). A Woods End study reported to ASA-SSSA(2003, 2007) showed green waste composts ranked lower in maturity and higher in salt and E. coli than normal manure composts. Gardening editor Thomas warned "...we have to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of our plants". Woods End comments - these are sad results since it is exactly what the Rodale/Woods End Matrix quality program is designed to prevent.

11-28-2007 Bioplasitic or no, if it looks like plastic, it is: "man-made contamination".

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There is a new upturn in biodegradable plastics entering the marketplace due to companies making commitments to developing bio-packaging- basically plastics, which after use, can be composted completely to CO2 and water, and be non-toxic. These products must be tested in accordance to degradability norms, such as EN13432, ASTM-D6400 and ISO-148522, all of which Woods End Labs is equipped to perform. However, pieces of these bio-plastics possessing very high surface-area to weight-ratio, often end up in finished composts– and appear identical to regular plastic- in other words, a man-made contaminant. “Unless you take it in the lab and run FTIR on a fragment, you can not distinguish them from petroleum plastic”, according to Brinton. This means that the issue of physical contamination remains a high – and increasing - concern. New European scanning techniques for “man-made” residues help consumers and the compost industry understand and regulate this form of unsightly contamination. “Bio-plastic in finished compost can’t be excused as physical contamination simply because it is biodegradable”, Brinton remarks. Pictured is a lab scan of finished compost that had mixed bio-plastic and polyethylene. European guidelines are that compost must achieve less than 800mm2 surface area of man-made plastic / liter of compost – that’s a little over 1 inch-squared per quart of compost.

10-05-2007 Bioenergy Crops for On Farm Energy Production of Biogas- the next Generation

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The theme of renewable energy from rotation-crops was explored by Dr. Brinton at the Renewable Energy Conference held Oct. 2 in Indianapolis. Brinton's paper, entitled "Bioenergy Farming- Sustainability Practices" outlined steps to adapt existing farm infrastructures to sustainable energy production by means of multi-cropping. Methane yields from bioenergy crops such as corn, sudangrass, and white sweetclover, singly and in rotation, range up to 3,000 m3/ha, equivalent to 6,000 kW/acre, if converted by CHP. Citing rising costs of waste processing energy- not only for corn-ethanol, but for modern intensive composting, which recent studies show require up to 100kw energy-input per ton compost-output, Brinton suggested that crop+manure biogas production could synergize if not replace these alternative processes. "We can't afford not to consider first digesting food waste to recover its very high energy content, instead of releasing it as CO2 and some waste heat from composting", he said. Woods End presented a paper the previous year showing the value of connecting composting to bioenergy processes, a practice unique to Europe. In a 1995 USDA project, Brinton projected that energy costs of composting were approaching untenable levels. Woods End Laboratory has commited a signifcant effort to buldings a state-of-art biogas lab and is growing bioenergy research crops and operating digesters on its farm.

08-20-2007 Dirt! The-Movie filming features Woods End and Maine composters

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Filming for the Common Ground Media, Inc project "Dirt! The Movie" got under way at Woods End Labs farm this month, featuring interviews between writer William Bryant Logan and Will Brinton on topics of compost and soil life.

The film is a feature length documentary by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow, inspired by William Bryant Logan's acclaimed book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. In their words, DIRT! tells the truly amazing story of humans and dirt from dirt's point of view. Covering the globe on topics of soil fertility, the Los Angeles, CA film crew spent a week in Maine and visited compost facilities recommended by Woods End labs and filmed soil testing and soil fertilization at Woods End. Check out the Dirt! blog for news of progress.