MUSKEGON — Dr. Imad Mahawili, executive director of Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon has long spoke of developing a research program focused on the conversion of biomass into methane. A $1 million grant issued earlier this month by the Michigan Public Service Commission is putting the research wheels in motion on that project.

The money is part of a $6 million pot allocated by the MPSC to the Low-Income and Energy Efficiency Fund, which was established last year. MAREC was one of 11 recipients statewide to receive funding during this round of grants. The $1 million grant is the second largest awarded by the MPSC, topped only by $2 million presented to Michigan State University.

Mahawili intends to use the funds to set up a pilot plant that will convert animal waste into methane gas. The gas will then be converted into electricity. He told MiBiz securing the government grants was paramount to getting the program off the ground.

“I was determined that this would not be a privately funded project because the information we will get out of operating the pilot plant should be made available publicly, particularly for the farming community,” he said.

In light of state government budget cuts, Mahawili said he feels “very fortunate” that MAREC received a grant of such magnitude. He said the MPSC certainly believes in energy efficiency and the development of alternative energy, but he strongly believes that the state agency was really looking at the broader economic picture.

“When I was developing the program, I said immediately it must be methane, not hydrogen. By looking at the methane requirements we protect our farming business. That’s why I set out personally to develop a program with a demonstration pilot plant that people can see working on a daily basis,” said Mahawili.

The ideal scenario places the pilot plant at the Muskegon County Wastewater Management System site on Apple Avenue. Mahawili said the location lends itself well to the project since the pilot plant could tap into water used by the wastewater plant, plus it would be convenient for area farmers to make deliveries.

Muskegon County commissioners would have to approve the establishment of the pilot plant at the county wastewater site, and Mahawili said he is prepared to go before the commission to state his case.

MAREC officials hope to have the pilot plant operating in the next 12-18 months. As designed by Mahawili, the 50,000-square-foot above ground plant could alternate in processing animal waste from dairy cows and pigs. The waste would be converted into methane by a device called a bio-digester. The methane in turn would be used to generate electricity. Mahawili explained that the biomass product remaining after the process would be a practically pathogen-free fertilizer that farmers could use. Various types of analyses would go on during the process and data would be given to both farmers and alternative energy experts.

The heavily automated plant would employ two or three people.

MAREC received $250,000 in federal funds last year as part of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2004. A portion of that money is going to the biomass project to enable MAREC to install a combined heat/power micro-turbine at the plant.

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This article appeared in the July 25, 2005 issue of MiBiz, read by upper management executives in West and Southwest Michigan. Print subscriptions are free to qualified individuals who do business in West and Southwest Michigan. For further information about MiBiz Network, visit www.mibiz.com.