http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2540
I wonder if after all the process' , the dried waste could be made into pellets?????
I wonder if after all the process' , the dried waste could be made into pellets?????
NAMELESSLEE said:My neighbor buys distillers for his cattle. Don't know what the cost is , I'll have to ask. When it is dumped on his feedlot mixing pad it spreads out like oatmeal.
Jags said:Lee - you are correct. The waste product from major distillers (even ethanol plants) is commonly referred to as DDG's (dried distiller grains). In its "wet" form, it is pretty perishable, but can be feed to animals if they are located close by. It is used like a food additive for cattle and must be mixed with their normal food diet. Most distillers dry them. This can now be shipped (most goes to China), and used for cattle feed.
Thats where the rub comes in....it is pretty highly valued as cattle feed, and does have a true "worth". Probably much higher than if turned into pellets.
I have tried to talk our local ethanol plant (I know all the upper management) into using the DDG's as a fuel source for an electricity plant that can be located right on site. I have been told that the DDG's are worth more as critter food.
But the fact remains...they CAN be turned into pellets or bricks or whatever. Basically the grains have given up the starches and sugars, but still retains much of the energy in the form of solids (think hulls and fiber).
mbcijim said:Jags, I've understood what DDG's where for a while. I also understand the production of this stuff is enormous at the ethanol plants. I've never found info on who buys it.
Why is it shipped to China? I imagined it was always shipped to nearby animal farmers. I figured that the same train cars or trucks that brought in the corn took out the DDG.
I'm curious about it, anything you could tell me would be great!
Jags said:Most corn comes to the plants via truck and rail, and most DDGs leave the plant in container ships destined for over seas shipment. Typically, it would take several HUGE farms to handle the DDGs off of a single ethanol plant. And the reality is that China pays pretty good money for the stuff (or so I have been told).
Its actually the back end products (and Gov't subsidies, but that is another thread), that keeps the plants floating.
The other part of this equation that many don't realize is that the corn belt is no longer the cow belt. It used to be that every farmer had some cattle (maybe 20 head, or 80 or whatever), but that is becoming rarer. Because of costs, less corn is feed to cattle than in the past. The stuff that I get butchered from my sister (still has cattle) is WAY different than the stuff in the stores. Mostly because my sisters cattle has a fair amount of corn in its diet. This all comes into play when you have a huge amount of DDGs to get rid of.
pbvermont said:Aren't cows supposed to eat grass? Cows are grazing animals, they can be put in a nice field of grass and they will eat it and thrive. OR you can spend a lot of money, plant corn and use lots of equipment and petro-chemicals to haul the feed to the cows (rather than them harvesting their own food) . Or you can feed them brewery draff, or ethanol by-product, waste Dunkin' Donuts etc. Its a weird world.
mbcijim said:When you say they leave the plant via container ships... do you mean the ubiqtous sea-land-air containers?
I always thought they were shipped to our own factory farms.
So what are we feeding our cows if we aren't feeding them DDG or corn?
I was also wondering why they don't put the factory farms right next to the source of the DDG?