Published: July 07, 2008 11:50 am            

Investment brings hope to Carroll County

There’s been some good news in recent weeks at the former Savanna Army Depot. The Savanna-based company N-Ovation, Packer Engineering of Naperville, Ill., and Northern Illinois University held a presentation at the former Savanna Army Depot to announce a $1 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture for research and development of homegrown electricity and nitrogen fertilizer.

This process — to create a device that would generate a large amount of electricity and create nitrogen fertilizer through electricity — is being developed by N-Ovation and uses a century-old technique for capturing nitrogen from the air.

This process has been updated by the company with modern technology with the goal being to make it 10 times more efficient than it was historically. This process uses a generator that is fueled by corn stover and other agricultural waste.

The power plant would generate the electricity needs of the average farm, while also powering the nitrogen- making process. The process creates heat and ash, which is comprised of nutrients that can be returned to the soil, reducing fertilizer bills.

To make that happen, Joe Haas, of Haas Farms and vice president of N-Ovation; Rod Fritz, of Fritz Farms and president of N-Ovation; and Gary Frederick, designer, manufacturer and president of Fluidic MicroControls, have joined together with Peter Schubert, the senior director of research and development with Packer Engineering, to create a unit that would allow a farmer to create electricity for his farm and make nitrogen fertilizer.

Currently farmers can transport their agricultural waste to processing plants to have it converted into fertilizer. However, this process can be difficult and can waste fuel and time hauling the waste.

The plan is to do something that is all self-contained on the farm so the farmer can be more independent.

The estimated cost for a farmer to purchase this product would be $200,000. In the long run, the benefit is expected to make the initial cost acceptable. The product could be used by the farmer to make an extra profit selling power and fertilizer.

Those behind this new idea agree that they have a lot to do in order to make it happen. Our belief is that their idea has strong merit if the USDA is investing $1 million in the plan.

It is exactly this type of idea that would help farmers on many fronts, especially in light of rising petroleum prices.

Hopefully, this work will yield the results the creators hope, and will spur other creative ideas that will make Carroll County and our region a place where cutting edge research and development will benefit the farming community.

        

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