Renewable Energy Projects
Our Vision
IREA strives to deliver high value innovations to achieve goals that benefit humanity AND improve the long-term health of the world we live in. To this end IREA provides comprehensive technologies and processes to optimize resiliency and sustainability through renewable energy.
Contact IREA to discover your renewable energy solution
Fodderwing Farm
Fodderwing Farm is the initial site of IREA’s renewable energy research which focused on developing a small-scale Anaerobic Digestion (AD) system designed to fit a 20’ x 20’ shed and process roughly 1600 lbs. of livestock manure and food waste per batch. This research yielded the design of IREA’s MADPOWR™ system, which currently operates at Fodderwing Farm. Operation of MADPOWR™ significantly reduced the accumulation of manure, provided an alternate energy source (i.e., biogas) to reduce electricity consumed from public utilities, and yielded a safe fertilizer for promoting crop and pasture growth at Fodderwing Farm.
MADPOWR™ arrives as a pre-assembled unit sized for small farms. The system is easy to transport and install, allowing the user to generate biogas shortly after delivery.
Fodderwing Farm remains an integral part of IREA’s ongoing explorations of renewable energy in agricultural applications.
Contact IREA to learn more about MADPOWR™
Elceed Farm
Elceed Farm in Westover, MD is a contract grower for Mountaire Farms, the fourth-largest producer of chicken in the United States. Each chicken growing cycle produces considerable accumulation of poultry manure, a waste stream which contributes to harmful nutrient runoff in the fragile Chesapeake Bay Watershed ecosystem when applied as a fertilizer to crops. To address the issues of waste accumulation and nutrient runoff, IREA developed a customized anaerobic digestion system which was selected for funding by the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) through both the Animal Waste to Energy and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) grant programs.
Our solution reduces the concentration of three inhibitory nutrients in chicken manure prior to and during digestion leading to the effective and efficient conversion of manure into biogas while simultaneously making the digestate eligible to be used as a fertilizer within the nutrient restricted Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The biogas produced at Elceed Farm will be used to reduce the farm’s reliance on propane as well as to operate the CHP engine installed as part of the renewable energy system which will generate electricity and heat for use on site.
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Academic Partnerships
IREA also designs and manufactures benchtop AD systems scaled to serve the needs of academic institutions seeking advances in environmental engineering and the production of renewable energy. Among our recent academic partnerships are the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. These systems are designed to both expose students to the theory and operation of AD systems via laboratory curricula as well as to support academic research aimed at progressing the field of anaerobic digestion as a whole.
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Ongoing Research
IREA is committed to furthering advancements in renewable energy and as such conducts ongoing R&D operations in three facilities across Northern Virginia encompassing nearly 20,000 square feet.
- Fodderwing Farm hosts IREA’s original agriculture-based AD research facility which developed a small-scale AD system designed to be contained in a 20’ x 20’ shed. The site leverages the colocation of a working, small farm and a well-equipped laboratory to experiment and rapidly document results in an agricultural setting.
- IREA’s Manassas Research and Fabrication Facility is the hub for ongoing scientific research as well as our primary fabrication facility for MADPOWR™ systems.
- Chantilly Headquarters Facility houses IREA’s primary planning and engineering activities.
Free Consultation
Discover Your Renewable Energy Solution
Contact IREA to discover how a custom configured AD system can benefit your specific operation