A team of Michigan State senior biosystems engineering students won honorable mention in a nationwide competition sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to promote sustainable solutions to pressing needs.
The students designed and evaluated an anaerobic digester system coupled to a wetland area to cost-effectively treat dairy waste- and stormwater and generate biogas for energy in the bargain.
The resulting system could cut pollution from waste treatment and save on energy costs for the Kellogg Biological Station dairy, the students’ client for the project.
Students working on the project were Shannon Henderson, Louis Faivor, Patrick Triscari and Joseph Ahlquist, advised by biosystems and agricultural engineering assistant professor Dawn Reinhold.
The EPA awarded more than $1 million in grants to 14 college teams in the 6th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. April 23-26. Winners of the EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet, or P3 awards developed sustainable projects and ideas that protect the environment, encourage economic growth and use natural resources more efficiently. Each P3 award winner receives up to $75,000 to further develop a design, implement it in the field, or move it to the marketplace.
Information on the project and photos of the MSU team are online at http://www.epa.gov/ncer/p3/project_websites/2010/2010awardwinners.html