Environmental Science field trip gives a behind-the-scenes look

The non-sugar part of the corn will be turned into high protein cattle and chicken food.

A closer look at renewable energy sources

December 17, 2009 by Sara Walsh

On December 3rd, the first really cold day of the year, the Environmental Science class took a field trip to learn more about renewable resources and how our choices affect the earth. The students visited four locations: Siouxland Ethanol, L.L.C. and L.P. Gill Landfill (both in Jackson), Gavin’s Point Power Plant in Yankton, S.D., and lastly the Elkhorn Ridge wind farm in Bloomfield.

Each stop held a wealth of information as students saw first-hand what goes on at various power-generation facilities. The first stop was the ethanol plant, where they take local corn and, through a fermentation process, generate ethanol to be used as a cleaner-burning gasoline additive. They take in 55,000 bushels of corn per day! It was interesting to see how high-tech everything is and how it is monitored on numerous computer displays. They also told us that about 20% of the fuel they burn is methane gas which has been piped over from the landfill.
From here we took the short drive to the landfill. The landfill began in 1981 and has been expanding ever since to meet the needs of the area. In fact, much of the part one drives on to get to the dumping area is actually “old landfill” area—hundreds of feet of trash that have been covered by dirt and now hold grass, trees, and buildings. There is a 40 foot fence at one edge of the landfill to prevent debris from flying away, however there is still a lot of trash that escapes (mostly plastic sacks). They estimate that 40% of the landfill trash could have been recycled. We also saw the methane wells in the older landfill areas and the methane shed where it is collected then piped to the ethanol plant.

Current area being filled, large machines crush the garbage then cover it with dirt. The tree-filled area in the background will be the next expansion location.

The next stop—Yankton, S.D. to visit the Gavin’s Point Power Plant. Students were taken on a tour of the inside of the power plant where it was nice and warm for the first time all day! They were shown the generators, the control room, the turbines, and the other functioning units of the plant. It was stated that the plant generates enough electricity to power around 15,000-20,000 homes. Though the smallest of the power plants on the Missouri River, it serves as the “control station;” if one of the other power plants lost functioning ability, it could be controlled from Yankton’s.

Look closely--the class is standing at the base of the turbine!

Finally we travelled to Bloomfield to see the wind farm. We were first shown a PowerPoint about the construction of the wind towers as well as facts about each. The wind turbines are also monitored on computers; they give constant readouts of turbine speed and electrical output, among other readings. Next we braved the cold and visited one of the wind turbines. Each one is 262 feet tall with each blade being 148 feet long. Each section of the tower (there are 5) and blades are preassembled before transportation to the field. Then workers just “snap” the pieces together on-site. Up close the units are much different than far away. Some facts the students did not realize: #1 they are really tall, #2 the outside of a blade may be rotating at over 300 mph, and #3 the blades actually flux on a windy day (since they are made of fiberglass).

Check out all the pictures from our trip on the slideshows!