Biomass Rules has been collecting solar production data every 5 minutes for the last 30 months (40,000 sunlight datapoints per year). The most surprising discovery is the variability. Solar output on any single day is highly variable. Most days, it … Continue reading →
Manure is not created equally. Livestock feces and urine is composed of unused carbohydrates, nutrients, and water, and it is not homogeneous. Corn, soybeans, and forages go into livestock and poultry feed, but what comes out depends on environmental conditions, … Continue reading →
We do not live in a straight-line world. Although food markets are much easier to navigate in 2 dimensions. A linear, food industry supply chain makes intuitive sense when thinking about inputs > farming > processing > retail (Model #1 … Continue reading →
Gravity is underrated in our world. It is taken for granted in residential energy systems. As an agricultural systems analyst we design our systems using gravity whenever possible. In, Grain and feed handling Liquid and dry manure handling Barging grain … Continue reading →
New market demand for renewable natural gas (RNG), or biogenic methane, is growing. First, the EPA AgStar historical farm digester data was charted to illustrate the rapid recent growth in farm digesters. Next, the EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) … Continue reading →
This fun map from EPA, AgStar farm digester website gives a striking visual of the distribution of US farm digesters. The largest digesters are fewer than ten years old. This dataset was last updated in 2024. At that time there … Continue reading →
Revenue-generating renewable methane is real and a growing industry. My encounter with MAAS Energy Works at Simpson University in Redding, California earlier this month, was a homecoming for Biomass Rules. The importance of this topic was reenforced with the American … Continue reading →
While at visiting Simpson University’s Operation Management’s class last week, I received a welcomed education! The day I was visiting Simpson University’s Business Department, so was MAAS Energy Works. Wow! Such a happy convergence. Twenty years ago, through Biomass Rules, … Continue reading →
The Big Beautiful Bill has passed. I am trying to keep up as best as a multi-value chain, policy-adjacent economist can. I am a professional skeptic, and therefore, am pretty sure that regardless of the new policy, we will forge … Continue reading →
On a total energy consumption basis, the United States hovers just above 10 percent that is sourced from renewable fuels; wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal feedstocks. On a recent road trip, it was clear that the Midwest States were … Continue reading →
