Chicken litter as energy source gets nod from Senate

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The millions of chickens raised on the Eastern Shore may soon be contributing not just to dinner, but to the electricity to cook it.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would classify chicken litter — the combination of excrement and the chips to absorb it — as a Tier 1 renewable energy source, just like solar or wind power.

In 2004, the state passed a standard for electricity producers that require them to gradually increase the percentage of renewable energy they are using to supply power for the Maryland grid, 2 percent this year going up to 9.5 percent in 2022.

The millions of pounds of chicken litter on the Delmarva Peninsula is also a good and cheap fertilizer, according to Sen. Lowell Stoltzfus, a farmer on the Lower Shore. Chemical fertilizer is now costing about $550 per pound, and chicken litter costs about $30 per ton.

However, it leaves a lot of excess nitrogen in the soil.

Sen. Thomas “Mac” Middleton, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a Charles County farmer who sponsored the bill, said the chicken litter for fuel is first converted to pellets and then is heated to release the gases contained in the excrement.

Using chicken litter to produce power was first tested at the power system at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, which produces electricity and steam from wood chips.

Constellation Energy testified in favor of the legislation, saying it was a cheaper energy source than other alternatives.