By: Sonia A. Hall
If my latest post on anaerobic digestion (AD) and its potential as a win-win solution that can address multiple challenges of manure management while reducing greenhouse gas emissions caught your eye, here’s a great opportunity to learn more about where AD research is at.
Join us for a series of five FREE webinars where Washington State University researchers and their collaborators share their findings as they strive to quantify the climate, air, water, nutrient and economic impacts of integrating emerging, next-generation technologies within anaerobic digestion systems on U.S. dairies.Webinars are scheduled every other Wednesday starting February 10, 2016, 1 pm Eastern/10 am Pacific Time. To register, go to http://csanr.wsu.edu/webinars/anaerobic-digestion/signup/ and click the webinar title you would like to attend. Please share this announcement widely! Apologies for cross postings. 
Anaerobic digesters are used worldwide to produce energy and to treat organic materials such as municipal waste, food processing residues, and manures. Government, industry, environmental and agricultural stakeholders are interested in anaerobic digestion (AD) systems because of their multitude of benefits: they can reduce greenhouse gases, improve air quality, protect water quality, recover nutrients, and improve farm economics while generating a steady, predictable supply of renewable energy.
While AD technology has been used for decades on farms and in water recovery facilities in the United States, the adoption of AD technology in the U.S. is limited when compared to European countries. Existing evidence suggests that using biogas systems to address agriculture sector concerns about nutrient loss could improve projects’ returns on investment and AD adoption rates, while generating additional environmental benefits.
Washington State University (WSU) has an extensive research program focused on developing and evaluating technologies that enhance the economic viability of AD systems. Using a bio-refinery systems approach, researchers are working to maximize synergies between technologies, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture and from the Water Environment Research Foundation.
Downloadable event flyer listing all webinars available here
February 10, 2016 – Dairy Nutrient Recovery Technologies within an Anaerobic Digestion Bio-refinery. Speaker: Dr. Craig Frear, Director of Research and Technology, Regenis; formerly Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University.
February 24, 2016 – Anaerobic Digestion Bio-refinery: Potential for Biochar Production and Utilization. Speaker: Dr. Manuel Garcia-Perez, Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University.
March 23, 2016 – Agronomic Evaluation of Anaerobic Digestion System Recovered Fertilizers.
Speaker: Dr. Harold P. Collins, Soil Scientist and Microbiologist at the Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, USDA – Agricultural Research Service.
April 6, 2016 – An Introduction to the Anaerobic Digestion System Enterprise Budget Calculator.
Speaker: Dr. Gregory Astill, Research Economist at the USDA Economic Research Service; obtained his Ph.D. from the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University.
April 20, 2016 – Insights for Anaerobic Digestion from Dairy-CropSyst, a Decision Support Tool for Gaseous Emissions and Nutrient Management. Speaker: Dr. Bryan Carlson, Associate in Research, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Washington State University.