- Joined
- Jun 13, 2021
- Messages
- 13
Rep Bank
$160
$160
User Power: 138%
Probably a shot in the dark, but does someone have experience with recycling horse manure?
Some of my relatives own a large horse stable, up to now they gave their manure to the farmer next door, who used it as dung. Due to new laws in Europe, they have to change how the farmer keeps the manure until he uses it, and they also cut some of the support payments for it, so all in all, he says it's too much effort for him to keep using the horse manure.
The only current possibility to get rid of the piles of shit is by paying a company to pick it up and dispose of it, which is really expensive.
I thought there must be a better way, especially because horse manure is pretty good dung once it is composted. So I started to research and found some opportunities.
1) Compost it, if you put it on a field, mix the piles every day, and make sure that everything is alright (heat inside, worms, and whatever) it would be ok to just keep it outside without having to build a specific place to store it. The downside is that the time window is pretty tight and you would have to either package it every 6 weeks or have a buyer for the manure all the time because keeping it outside longer would result in fines.
2) Composting it in containers. I found a company which builds special containers that control all the factors like heat, mixing it through and all that stuff. Pretty expensive, and they won't fit a lot, but also almost no hassle. Pretty much shit in and compost out.
The upside of the compost methods is that, like mentioned, composted horse manure is really good dung and farmers and gardeners love it. So it could be packaged and sold.
3) Drying and burning. The manure is a mix of shit and either wood chips or straw. It can be dried and burned to generate heat, warm water, or even electricity. From my research that would be the cleanest way. The heat of the oven dries the incoming manure before it gets burned, all the excess heat can be used to heat up houses, or can be turned into electricity and sold to the city.
The downside is that I would need the whole system which isn't that cheap and then I would need to either transform it into electricity or find some people who want to buy the heat.
I really like that this could be completely automated though.
4) Turn it into biogas. Horse manure can be used in biogas plants, so if I'd build one I could sell the gas. All in all a good idea if it weren't for the steep price. Still, something I thought I should mention.
Those are the 4 options I found from my research that would turn the shit into something that could be sold. Once such a system is set up, getting the manure shouldn't be a problem. A horse produces about 30kg of manure per day (for comparison 1kg of composted manure sells for about 2.50€). I asked my relatives how other stables are doing it, and they either use it themselves, if they also have fields, or they pay to get it picked up by the local garbage disposal company, paying something in the 4-figure range per month depending on how many horses they have.
With one of the above systems running, I could probably only make them pay for the truck to pick up the truck and then sell the final product, either dung, energy, heat, or gas.
In a 5km radius of my relatives stable (around 50 horses) are 4 more stables with also between 20 and 40 horses each. That easily would be enough to fill all the need to power a system to recycle it.
The only thing that keeps me worrying is the steep startup cost, I would need to buy the whole machinery and a plot of land at the minimum, and I don't have a large sum of money lying around (just finished university last year and started saving up a bit).
I have about 30k€ to work with which I saved up in the last year and about 1.5k a month of disposable income I could put into this. But I am not sure if it is worth it, or if there are things I am overlooking.
I would love some feedback and different points of few!
Some of my relatives own a large horse stable, up to now they gave their manure to the farmer next door, who used it as dung. Due to new laws in Europe, they have to change how the farmer keeps the manure until he uses it, and they also cut some of the support payments for it, so all in all, he says it's too much effort for him to keep using the horse manure.
The only current possibility to get rid of the piles of shit is by paying a company to pick it up and dispose of it, which is really expensive.
I thought there must be a better way, especially because horse manure is pretty good dung once it is composted. So I started to research and found some opportunities.
1) Compost it, if you put it on a field, mix the piles every day, and make sure that everything is alright (heat inside, worms, and whatever) it would be ok to just keep it outside without having to build a specific place to store it. The downside is that the time window is pretty tight and you would have to either package it every 6 weeks or have a buyer for the manure all the time because keeping it outside longer would result in fines.
2) Composting it in containers. I found a company which builds special containers that control all the factors like heat, mixing it through and all that stuff. Pretty expensive, and they won't fit a lot, but also almost no hassle. Pretty much shit in and compost out.
The upside of the compost methods is that, like mentioned, composted horse manure is really good dung and farmers and gardeners love it. So it could be packaged and sold.
3) Drying and burning. The manure is a mix of shit and either wood chips or straw. It can be dried and burned to generate heat, warm water, or even electricity. From my research that would be the cleanest way. The heat of the oven dries the incoming manure before it gets burned, all the excess heat can be used to heat up houses, or can be turned into electricity and sold to the city.
The downside is that I would need the whole system which isn't that cheap and then I would need to either transform it into electricity or find some people who want to buy the heat.
I really like that this could be completely automated though.
4) Turn it into biogas. Horse manure can be used in biogas plants, so if I'd build one I could sell the gas. All in all a good idea if it weren't for the steep price. Still, something I thought I should mention.
Those are the 4 options I found from my research that would turn the shit into something that could be sold. Once such a system is set up, getting the manure shouldn't be a problem. A horse produces about 30kg of manure per day (for comparison 1kg of composted manure sells for about 2.50€). I asked my relatives how other stables are doing it, and they either use it themselves, if they also have fields, or they pay to get it picked up by the local garbage disposal company, paying something in the 4-figure range per month depending on how many horses they have.
With one of the above systems running, I could probably only make them pay for the truck to pick up the truck and then sell the final product, either dung, energy, heat, or gas.
In a 5km radius of my relatives stable (around 50 horses) are 4 more stables with also between 20 and 40 horses each. That easily would be enough to fill all the need to power a system to recycle it.
The only thing that keeps me worrying is the steep startup cost, I would need to buy the whole machinery and a plot of land at the minimum, and I don't have a large sum of money lying around (just finished university last year and started saving up a bit).
I have about 30k€ to work with which I saved up in the last year and about 1.5k a month of disposable income I could put into this. But I am not sure if it is worth it, or if there are things I am overlooking.
I would love some feedback and different points of few!
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
.
