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UVM students hone compost process

October 15, 2013, South Burlington, VT — The research project currently underway at the University of Vermont might look like a 15,000-pound pile of cow manure and used straw next to a greenhouse, but it is actually a finely tuned heat and nutrient source for the greenhouse’s tomato beds.

The piles, based on well-established principles, exploit the heat naturally generated by decomposing farm waste to heat the greenhouse. This coming winter will provide the concept a make-or-break test for a natural process to eliminate the need for fossil fuel to heat greenhouses. READ MORE