BioTown USA

BioTown USA, also known as Reynolds, Ind., is getting ready to build a power plant that will convert cow manure into electricity, another step on its bumpy path to becoming the country’s first community to run completely on renewable energy.

It’s a noble goal, though the town has had trouble turning this vision into reality. It’s a flyspeck of a town, with a population just a bit more than 500, and according to one report, about a third are using Ethanol in their cars.

But the town took a major step back towards the grid in October, when a major refiner, VeraSun, suspended construction on a Ethanol plant in Reynolds, saying that prices for the fuel were too low to justify adding the production capacity.

Yes, gas prices are skyrocketing, but that hasn’t translated to the Ethanol market, where everyone apparently had the same idea, and increased their own production, driving up supplies and driving down prices. It certainly doesn’t help that increased production has also driven up the price of corn, further hindering manufacturers, and also contributing to global inflation for basic food products.

But back to BioTown. The community is clearing ground for an anaerobic digester, a machine that basically lets microorganisms eat poop, and in the process creating methane, which can be converted into electricity. The farming has always had a plentiful supply of manure, so this project is a two-fer, combining waste disposal with renewable energy.

Here’s the big question: can BioTown serve as model for the rest of the country? That remains to be seen. First, it’s not at all clear that the community can actually achieve its goal of meeting all of its energy needs with renewable sources. And second, even if it can, I wonder whether that model can scale upwards to support larger cities, or even if it can be exported at all. I know there aren’t many cows in my neighborhood (though there may be other sources of organic waste). Still, it’s heartening to see people making the effort, and I’ll be watching out for future BioTown developments.