You may recall that Daniel Boone High School’s “Green Team” won the Lexus Eco Air & Climate and Final Challenges last year. Altogether, the team won $25,000.00 through their participation in these challenges. Using these funds and an additional $70,000.00 in material donations, the team built the Lori Kemp Memorial STEAM Courtyard and outdoor Green Classroom.
Well, the Green Team is at it again this year. The team has conducted research on hydroponic gardening and biogas digesters which produce methane gas from organic wastes including kitchen scraps and cow manure. Indeed, the team built a prototype biogas generator and was able to produce a 3 second flame through a Bunsen burner. For their research and community education program, the team once again won the Lexus Eco Air & Climate Challenge and an additional $10,000.00 to further fund their program. As a result of their recent win, the team is now competing in the Lexus Eco Final Challenge for a prize of up to an additional $30,000.00!
The team is now charged with educating the extended community, which includes both the Federal and State Governments, on their environmental topic.
In an effort to educate the State Legislature, the Green Team recently traveled to the State Capitol in Harrisburg where they met with the Democratic Head of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Senator Judith Schwank and Representative David Maloney. The team also met with nearly fifty additional state senators and representatives as well as President of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Rick Ebert and newly appointed Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Reading.
During this trip, the team discovered that the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission is considering a policy change that would effectively limit or kill the advancement of small scale, privately generated, alternate energy sources, including wind, solar, and biogas systems. This “110%” policy would effectively reverse the Net Metering Laws of the State of Pennsylvania by making the construction costs of these systems to prohibitive for future, small scale power generators. As a result of this recent discovery, the Green Team has expanded its mission to include not only educating the public on their system, but also to one of trying to save alternate energy sources in Pennsylvania by informing the public of the proposed 110 percent policy implementation.
As a part of their Lexus Eco Final Challenge experience, the team conducted field research on two dairy farms: the Wanner Pride N Joy Farm in Narvon and the Mor-Dale in Meyerstown. Both farms are presently equipped with electricity generating, Biogas Digester Systems. They conducted research on these existing systems in order to augment their background research with a look at the fully operating systems.
The highlight of the team’s experience will be the planned presentation of the Biogas Digester System to Mr. Terry Hafer of Earl Hafer & Son’s Dairy Farm in Douglasville. The team hopes to provide enough information to Hafer enabling him to see the benefit of the Biogas Digester system. With any luck the Green Team hopes to be the catalyst which brings about the construction of an electric producing Biogas System right here in the Daniel Boone Area School District. Such a dream may come true-if the “110 percent” policy does not.
Daniel Boone Residents are invited to see the Green Team’s Biogas Digester, Hydroponics Bioreactors, and Aquaponics system personally by attending Daniel Boone High School’s 3rd Annual Parents’ STEAM night sponsored by the Green Team on Wednesday, Feb. 25, starting at 7 p.m.
