This past semester I interned with Avatar Energy Inc, a company producing large-scale methane digesters. Avatar's research and design department is located in South Burlington. I was assigned to work on an experiment in conjunction with the UVM Plant and Soil Science school. The experiment is being funded by grant money awarded to Avatar. I worked directly under Bridgett Jamison, the graduate student spearheading the effort. The main goal of the ongoing experiment is to study the effect of mixing liquid effluent fertilizer with soil on nitrogen gas evolution. In a more understandable context... we're looking to see if mixing liquid manure with soil provides a more viable source of nitrogen for crops-in this case, corn. My duties covered a large range of skills, from setting up the microcosms used in the experiment to sampling the gas evolution. This experiment could result in finding a use for the by-product of a renewable energy technique.

John Byers

Guy Roberts

AVATAR Energy Vermont
Research and Development
12 Gregory Drive, Unit 6
South Burlington,VT05403
(802) 651-4776
infovt@avatarenergy.com