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The project studied the potential of horse manure for energy production in the South Savo region (Finland). In the study, two different types of horse manure pellets were produced from wood and peat based horse manure litter batches. The horse manure pellets were then mixed with traditional wood pellets in mixtures of 5 and 10 per cent. The combustion of the pellet mixtures were made using small 20 kWh pellet boiler (Ariterm Biomatic +20). In the burning tests, the combustion gases were measured using a testo350 Emission Analyser, and the quality of the ashes formed during the combustion tests were analysed using X-Ray Fluorescence technology (XRF). On the basis of the combustion tests performed, a traditional pellet boiler proved not to be an effective burning technique for horse manure pellets., Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 698-701

Project “Promoting energy efficiency in the South Savo region’s small and medium-sized enterprises” aims at creating new practices to improve energy efficiency and to increase the awareness of renewable energy forms in South Savo. Finland has committed to a significant reduction in its carbon dioxide emissions during the next decades. One measure to improve energy efficiency is to implement the company energy reviews. However, the conventional energy review made for big companies is laborious and costly to execute especially for small-sized and micro companies. Therefore, many smaller companies have been left out of the work to promote energy efficiency. This in turn means that they will also lose a significant cost savings potential. This project aims at creating an adaptable model for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use in assessing their individual energy efficiency. The model may be used for both surveying the current use of energy in a company, as well as, for determining necessary improvements in energy-saving goals set. The project will also connect SMEs with those local service providers, which can assist them in practice with necessary improvements and implementations. The project will also create information on renewable energy sources usability in South Savo., Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 1679-1680

In Finland, horse manure has traditionally been used as a nutrient in field cultivation. In the project, the regional potential of horse manure as bioenergy was studied in the South Savo region of Finland. In the study, four local service models for utilisation of horse manure were defined as being viable to both the horse entrepreneurs, as well as, the energy producers. In addition to energy production methods, some of the created service production models may alternatively be applied to other horse manure productisation methods. The cost-efficiency of the service production models were examined with regard to logistics by taking into consideration transportation distances and use of transportation equipment. In the sensitivity analysis examination, the varying power plant prices for horse manure were theoretically compared with the lengths of the transportation distances. The results clearly illustrated the type of transportation equipment and the length of transportation with which the transportation of horse manure for energy production would be profitable., Proceedings of the 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 237-240

Fortytwo calves, 28 to 117 days old, were collected from 23 dairy farms and transported in a lorry, allowing direct contact between the calves, to 8 calf rearing farms. The average transport time per calf was 4.5 h, ranging from 0.3 to 12.8 h. The calves were sampled by nasal swabbing for mycoplasmas first before loading and then immediately after transport. Thirteen of the calves were transferred to farm I. They were placed in individual pens in a separate room to themselves, and were sampled at intervals for a period of 4 weeks. Ten of the 42 calves (23.8 %) originating from 5 of the source farms were found initially positive for M. dispar with titers > 4 log(10) ecu; 3 of these 10 calves were delivered to farm I and 7 calves to 6 others of the 8 receiving farms. Three initially infected calved delivered to farms I continued to be positive throughout the follow-up period; among the 10 initially negative calves the frequency of detected infection, and the geometric mean titer (within parenthesis), developed so that on days 1, 7, 14, and 28 the figures were: 2 (2.5), 8 (4.3), 9 (4.7), and 10 (5.5), respectively. After transport 3 initially negative calves were found positive with low titers. Two of them were placed on farm I. In one of them positivity proved to be only transient; the case seems to represent a phenomenon of transfer of mycoplasmas without establishment of infection. In contrast, at least 4 (possibly 7) calves, negative both before and after transport–ascribed above to the group of 10 initially negative calves arriving on farm I–had in all likelihood caught the infection during the transport. Two of the 10 calves most likely caught the infection on the farm; for 3 calves the evidence was equivocal as to the 2 alternatives. Seven of the 42 calves (16.7 %) were found to be initially infected with M. bovir-hinis, 2 of the 42 with Acholeplasma laidlawii. Among the 13 calves transported to an reared on farm I, 8 were found to be positive at least once for M. bovirhinis during the study. Colonisation by this mycoplasma was partly detected only intermittently and the detectable prevalence among the 13 calves at its highest was only 38.5 %.

Twenty three 1- to 18-week old Ayrshire calves were exposed to infection by Mycoplasma dispar, 1 or 2 at a time, in a series of consecutive experiments. Exposure took place either at direct contact, i. e. with the possibility of physical contact between susceptible and infected calves (type I), or through separation of susceptibles from the nearest infected calf at a distance of 0.8 m (type II) or 1.3 m (type III). Frequent nasal swabbing was used for the detection of the infection and the measurement of the level of colonisation. Ten, 4, and 9 calves were subjected to type I, II, and III exposures, respectively. When the first positive nasal specimen preceding a rise in titres in the following specimens was used to signify an establishment of infection of a susceptible calf, the medians (ranges) of the times for the transmission of infection (including the latent period of early colonisation undetectable by nasal swabbing) in the 3 exposure groups were: 4.5 (1-27), 8.5 (7-9), and 17 (6-32), respectively. The difference between groups I and III was significant (p < 0.05). The last figures for type III of exposures represent the results of only 5 calves succesfully exposed; the remaining 4 of the 9 calves of this exposure type were not found to pick up the infection within the periods of 2 to 3 weeks of exposure. The results indicate a transmission mode via droplets. Four calves exposed only for 4 h by direct contact were found to be infected on days 0, 4, 4, and 7, respectively. This indicated variability in the length of the latency as regards the detection by nasal swabbing. Four of the 7 calves in the type I experiments sampled at hour 4 showed low titers for M. dispar. Only in 1 of these calves was this early finding of transfer followed by positivity and a rise in titers through subsequent specimens. The other 3 calves became positive anew, with subsequent developing colonisation, first on days 4, 4, and 12, respectively.

The prevalence and level of colonisation by respiratory mycoplasmas, especially by Mycoplasma dispar (M. dispar), in calves on 24 Finnish calf rearing farms were studied by using nasal swabs. A minimum of 5 calves from each farm was examined and 91.3 % of the 206 calves examined were 1 to 5 months old. Nine herds were selected on account a diagnosed respiratory disease problem, the others without anamnestic knowledge of their health condition. All 24 farms and 96.1 % of the calves examined were found to harbour one or more species of mycoplasma. M. dispar, M. bovirhinis and Acholeplasma laidlawii were isolated from 23, 19 and 3 farms or from 91.7, 51.9 and 3.4 % of the calves investigated, respectively. The prevalence for M. dispar was 97.8 % and the geometric mean titer 4.9 log(10) color changing units (ccu) among 1- to 5-month old calves belonging to the infected farms. The prevalence in the age-group of 6- to 12-month old calves was significantly lower (40 %). No significant difference was found in the level of colonisation by M. dispar among the one-month age-groups of the 1- to 5-month old calves. A high degree of colonisation among 1- to 2-month old calves was indicative of the high ability of M. dispar to spread and colonise the respiratory pathway of young calves in the conditions described. The same state still prevailing in calves aged 4 to 5 months supported the concept of a relatively long duration of a heavy colonisation by this mycoplasma. The prevalence of M. bovirhinis among 1-to 5-month old calves was lower than that of M. dispar. Any decrease in the level of colonisation of M. bovirhinis could not be demonstrated in older calves. The titer levels of both M. dispar and M. bovirhinis as well as the prevalence of M. bovirhinis were significantly higher in herds having a current respiratory disease problem than in healthy or mildly affected herds. The same relationship applied to the husbandry method of common pens as compared with individual pens. A causal relationship of increased colonisation level, either as cause or effect, to the respiratory disease is suggested, as well as a probably more indirect one to the common pen husbandry type.