College - Author 1
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Department - Author 1
Dairy Science Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Dairy Science
Date
12-2009
Primary Advisor
Edwin H. Jaster
Abstract/Summary
Dairying continues to change with economic and environmental demands of today’s fast moving society. Feed costs continue to rise and now account for a large majority of expenses on dairies; especially protein, which has become expensive to purchase. I believe that Algae can serve as a possible solution to aid in alleviating this problem. Algae grow rapidly and consume undesirable carbon dioxide to release oxygen to the environment, making it an environmentally friendly source of feed. There are particular strands of algae that are high in protein. During the course of this project, I intend to discover how effective protein from algae will serve for the cow nutritionally. Algae will also be looked at from an economic perspective and possible harvest sources (and the most economic sources as well). Harvesting algae from water tanks fueled by carbon dioxide released from methane generators on dairy farm facilities would be the ideal source to capitalize on the renewable energy source of methane. If we can use the methane to generate electricity and then use the carbon dioxide to fuel algae production to use as a protein feed source, we can capitalize on conserving energy and helping the dairy industry take another step to becoming more “green”. I will explore the feasibility of such a setup and the amount of investment capital is expected to launch such an endeavor. I believe that if we can reach an economic ultimatum in using algae in the dairy industry, we can revolutionize the dairy industry, launching a campaign to better use of methane, the dairy industry’s renewable energy source.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/dscisp/23