AGATE PROJECT LINKS http://www.pastoralartisan.com/blog/saving-the-worldwith- cheese http://www.epa.gov/region9/organics/symposium/2009/ Ppt0000007.pdf http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/emerging_biogas.html http://www.epa.gov/agstar/documents/workshop09/ thompson_voell.pdf http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/ad101/anaerobic- digesters.html https://www.farmfoundation.org/news/articlefiles/1752-RCM %20Covered%20Lagoon%20Digester%202012.pdf http://www.wtert.eu/default.asp?Menue=13&ShowDok=12 http://www.extension.org/pages/30307/types-of-anaerobic- digesters#.VSAtnhPF- http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/6166/digesting- californiaundefineds-innovations http://www.e-inst.com/biomass-to-biogas/- The process http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/waste-to- energy/resources/biogas/types-of-anaerobic-digesters/ covered-lagoon http://www.epa.gov/agstar/documents/conf04/wright.pdf http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/ad101/anaerobic- digesters.html Hydrolysis In general, hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which the breakdown of water occurs to form H+ cations and OH- anions. Hydrolysis is often used to break down larger polymers, often in the presence of an acidic catalyst. In anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis is the essential first step, as Biomass is normally comprised of very large organic polymers, which are otherwise unusable. Through hydrolysis, these large polymers, namely proteins, fats and carbohydrates, are broken down into smaller molecules such as amino acids, fatty acids, and simple sugars. While some of the products of hydrolysis, including hydrogen and acetate, may be used by methanogens later in the anaerobic digestion process, the majority of the molecules, which are still relatively large, must be further broken down in the process of acidogenesis so that they may be used to create methane. Acidogenesis