The Straight Scoop on Cow Poop…Er, Energy – Everett Post

For PUD customers in Snohomish County, you may have received the latest issue of their quarterly newsletter, Current. A short article called Poo Power Coming to a Home near you caught my eye. Did I mention it was short? But wait, there has to be more to this story!

So I contacted Aaron Swaney of Snohomish County’s PUD Communications to find out more about this electrical power manufacturing site outside of Monroe. Maybe it was the 8-year-old who was still inside of me and wanted to learn more about cow droppings and energy.

Snohomish County PUD has partnered with Qualco Energy since 2014 to get power from this unique facility. Qualco Energy is a partnership between Northwest Chinook Recovery, Sno / Sky Agricultural Line and the Tulalip Tribe. The partnership’s mission is to greatly reduce cow dung in rivers in the area to help fish, help farmers get a very efficient fertilizer and generate electricity as part of the PUD network – a real win, Profit, profit for everyone involved.

This is how the process works. There are around 2300 cows from three local farms. That’s a lot of cow cakes! In fact, these cows produce around 60,000 gallons of manure every day. The manure is sent to one of the farms where this project is carried out and the material is dumped into a large sump. Food waste and even expired alcohol are also thrown into this sump.

The material from the sump then goes to a bio-cooker, which works like a cow’s stomach. The bio cooker is huge, the size of a soccer field and 14 feet deep, shaped in a horseshoe. The bio cooker breaks down the waste into fertilizer and methane. The methane is then burned in a generator to produce around 300 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power around 300 households.

Aaron emphasized that the PUD is “super proud” of this partnership and this renewable clean energy. PUD is so excited that PUD is working on a new partnership agreement this month to invest in a new power generator at this facility that will nearly double the amount of electricity produced.

Snohomish County PUD already gets 95 percent of its electricity from clean energy resources and 85 percent from hydropower projects. Compared to wind and solar energy, this system offers a stable resource, or as Aaron put it – “this is gold!” According to state law, any electricity that supplies customers in the state must consist of 100 percent clean energy by 2045, and the non-profit PUD only has 5 percent left. Expanding power generation from this facility outside of Monroe is another step towards that 100 percent goal. You can find aerial photographs under: aerial photographs

The 8-year-old boy in me learned how cow droppings, 60,000 gallons of cow cake a day, can be converted into electricity and help farmers get very effective fertilizers. What a win for all of us and our environment!