Cody Wilson Farms Project
THE WHY — LEGACY
Cody Wilson is a fourth generation farmer looking to make sure his son can be a fifth generation farmer.
The spirit of the American farmer is a strong one, a persistent one, and one that seeks to make sure that the land beneath his feet stays in the family, growing things for the good of neighbors nearby and around the world.
A changing marketplace has put many family owned farms in distress. However, this fierce spirit of the farmer has led Cody to devise an innovative way to make farming economically feasible — and sustainable — for the next generation.
THE WHAT — Sun Powered Reuse of By-Product Water
In addition to the process, benefits, and outcomes which Conservation By-Design brings, Cody has bolted on an additional technological and economic aspect.
Conservation By-Design takes by-product industrial water from the oil field, cleans it to match the surrounding soil, applies a fail-safe method of testing the water quality, applies it to the surrounding land, and then continually monitors the soil and water.
The innovative project of Cody Wilson Farms near Midland Texas turns on the question: What can we do with re-purposed water so it can compete with fresh water sales?
There are several solutions that the market might accept.
Use our fresh water until it is scarce enough that the price increases. As a farmers and citizens, we reject this idea.
Wait until new technologies allow the price of by-product water to compete with fresh water sales directly. But how long that will take?
The third and more workable solution is to put this produced/by-product water to work for us all by creating electricity.
Through the use of Concentrated Solar Power – where a large area of sunlight is focused onto a smaller area -- we can use the sun’s energy to create steam from a waste stream of by-product water.
Then, by using the steam to turn a turbine, we can create another product to sell, electricity.
Finally, this steam is condensed back down to distilled water which we can then sell or use for irrigation. While the distillation process is old technology, it will still qualify for the Solar Tax Credit which is currently at 30%. According to our research, the 30% tax credit is in addition to depreciation and can be carried forward. It’s almost like having a government subsidized disposal.
