05-CBRC-E08
National Network of Research and Demonstration Sites for Agricultural and Other Land Application Uses of FGD Products

A national network of sites for research/demonstration of beneficial agricultural and other land application uses of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) products is proposed.  With many electric utilities in the process of bringing new scrubbers on-line, the amount of FGD product to be created in the future in the United States will greatly increase.  Large-volume, agricultural uses for FGD products represent a market outlet that will benefit both the producer of the FGD product and the farmer (i.e. the end user).  Preliminary field work in Ohio and elsewhere has documented yield benefits for crops produced on soil amended with FGD product.  The national network will be initiated by hosting a workshop of potential interested parties.  This will be followed by a three-year commitment to the maintenance of the network.  Network sites will be strategically located in the United States so that producers, users and marketers of FGD products can observe the benefit of FGD product use in agriculture.  In addition, data on crop yield, environmental impacts and economic benefits will aid in the marketing of the FGD products.

Our long-term goal is to develop new strategies for the beneficial use of FGD products in agriculture.  Our main objective in this proposal is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel strategy to create a national network to test and demonstrate the benefits of FGD products in agriculture.  To achieve this objective, we have developed three sub-objectives.

  1. Develop a workshop to bring together interested parties to pool current knowledge and to create a national research and development network related to large-volume beneficial uses of FGD products in agriculture and other land application uses.
  2. Determine the appropriate rates and technologies of FGD products use in agriculture.
  3. Evaluate the soil chemical, and environmental effects of FGD products when applied to different soil types for improving crop productivity.

We are uniquely qualified to conduct this work because of the first-rate facilities and infrastructure support available to this project at The Ohio State University and our extensive and close contact with agricultural experts at other universities.  We also have established many useful collaborations with regulators and industry personnel.  We have extensive experience in working with FGD products and are recognized throughout the world as being innovative in developing new uses of FGD products.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is a world leader in research for the energy industry and will contribute financial support ($150,429 in cash) and provide direct access to producers and marketers of FGD products.  The Ohio State University will contribute $30,065 (in cash) and be responsible for all work included in this proposal.  The total project cost is estimated to be $576,170.

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