A Philadelphia-based company may capitalize on North Carolina's bounty of poultry poop for one of the nation's first chicken-powered electric plants.

The state's top two broiler-producing counties, Wilkes and Union, are among a number of locations Fibrowatt LLC is exploring for one or more $100 million plants. The company is already building a Minnesota plant to be fired by turkey litter -- manure and bedding -- and is developing projects in Maryland and Mississippi.

"It's not a well-known technique to the general public, and even to the industry," said Chief Operating Officer Carl Strickler. "It's pretty unique not only in the United States but quite honestly worldwide."

Poultry litter is part of North Carolina's wealth of biomass, the term for plant and animal leftovers such as wood scraps and manure. Enough of the stuff comes out of farms and forests to equal the potential power generated by a nuclear power reactor, state energy officials estimate.

For years, litter has been strewn on farm fields as cheap fertilizer. "It's turned broom sedge and weeds in Wilkes County into lush pastures," said Kathy Bunton, the state poultry agent for that foothills region.

But as chicken growers cluster in counties near processing plants, the land has taken all the nutrients it can absorb. That's where Fibrowatt hopes to step in.

"We don't eliminate the practice of land application," Strickler said. "We just take out the excess."

The plants Fibrowatt is developing generate 30 to 55 megawatts, enough to power some 50,000 homes.

Duke Power's Riverbend coal power station west of Charlotte generates 454 megawatts. And it is in the early stages of planning a new nuclear plant in South Carolina that would generate 2,234 megawatts.

More than a half-dozen N.C. counties have expressed interest in the plant, Strickler said. Among them: Wilkes, Surry and Alexander counties, in the northwest N.C. foothills, and Union.

"We hope they have an interest in Union County," said Maurice Ewing, president and CEO of the Union County Partnership for Progress. He referred other questions to Fibrowatt.

Said Don Alexander, the Wilkes Economic Development Corp. director: "If Fibrowatt comes ... we've all won."

A standing-room crowd, many sporting yellow caps from chicken producer Tyson Foods, which has a Wilkes County processing plant, debated the plan at a public meeting in North Wilkesboro last week.

"I just think this is a wonderful way to make sure the poultry industry stays viable," Bunton said. "I don't see the downside."

But some environmental groups do.

"The last thing we need to do with a valuable resource such as poultry litter is burn it and create air pollution," said Janet Zeller of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.

State officials should wait until the Minnesota plant is operating to learn more about emissions, she said.

Emissions would be similar to those of regular coal-fired power plants, said Gary Saunders, an environmental engineer in the N.C. Division of Air Quality. Chicken litter would produce less sulfur dioxide, which contributes to hazy skies and acidic streams.

Combustion of any sort also produces small amounts of chemicals called dioxins, some of which may cause cancer.

Strickler said emissions would be minimal. "If you think about it," he said, "our fuel is what went through a chicken or turkey, so it's a fairly clean fuel."

And the smell? Minimal, Strickler says, due to the company's preventive measures.

Wilkes County area officials have visited Fibrowatt's Minnesota plant. A delegation plans to visit poultry-powered plants in the United Kingdom that are run by a Fibrowatt partner.

"Wilkes is like anywhere else -- we hope it lands here," said Alexander, the economic development chief. "This is like PIMBY: Please In My Backyard."

Powerful Producers

As the nation's third-largest poultry producer, North Carolina's farms produce more than wings and thighs. Chickens produce about a ton of manure and pine shavings for every 1,000 birds -- about 84,000 tons a year for Union County alone.

Bruce Henderson: (704) 358-5051.

http://www.energyjustice.net/fibrowatch/similartocoal.html