The Renewable Energy Summit was held in Milwaukee the last week in March. It was nice to see a mix of people that included students, business owners, and of course, out-of-work professionals interested in network and exploring the green industry possibilities. Everyone was interested in learning what hot renewable energy innovations and technologies are out there today. Attendees learned that solar energy provides the latest in innovation, with wind far behind when it comes to private and residential services. It’s just too costly for an individual homeowner to have a wind turbine by their home, not to mention zoning and neighbor issues. But here in the Midwest, people are very excited about biofuels. With large dairy farms in abundance in Wisconsin, there is a lot of research and innovation going into using cow manure to produce energy. Farms, no matter the size, can get all of their energy – even energy for private use in homes - by using biogas digesters that sit right on the farm and convert cow manure to energy. Biogas digesters convert manure or other organic matter into biogas by using bacteria that decompose the organic waste to produce biogas which is composed of methane and carbon dioxide. Research is currently in the works on cleaning biogas so that it can be used as a natural gas. Digesters not only produce energy for the farm, but they also eliminate the smell and the mess cattle produce, and if you live in the dairy state, you can really appreciate this. The odor can be quite strong at times. Farmers may also sell the excess energy created from the biogas digester back to the grid. Various organizations, including the USDA and the Department of Energy, offer grants to farmers for the biogas digester and its implementation. Wisconsin, being the leader in biogas digester use, has many programs and initiatives to help farmers. Using biogas digesters on farms to create energy for that farm, and potentially for the surrounding community, is yet another example of creative ways to produce energy from a very problematic source. We’re not only eliminating the greenhouse gases made from the methane of cow manure, we’re using hat gas for the power we need.