Thursday, December 16, 2010

Holy Cow! Manure-to-Biogas Could Generate 3 Percent of US Electric Demand!

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/cow-manure-biogas-could-generate-three-percent-us-electicity.php
By Matthew McDermott



It has recently been discovered that cow manure can serve as a source of energy in the form of biogas. The University of Texas, in Austin, claims that when cow manure is left out to decompose, it can emit harmful amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment. This contributes to the greenhouse gas effect. Clearly, something needs to be done about cow manure, and what better than use it to make electricity? Cow manure includes high amounts of methane, which, believe it or not, is perfect for burning to create biogas. It does not give off harmful byproducts and is absolutely free! The University of Texas .has calculated that cow manure could provide the U.S. with 3% of its electricity each year Of course, they concede that this idea would be hard to implant in residential areas far from farms, but rural areas could use cow manure as a source of power easily.
This article was really interesting to me. It seemed a bit gross at first that excrement could be used for power (there were similar articles about how human excrement is being used for electricity in some areas of the world!), but I realized that this byproduct of the cows will always be made, so cow manure for biogas is a renewable resource until its supply rises exponentially. It is an amazing idea to use cow manure, because it releases harmful gases into the atmosphere if let to decompose but is useful if not.
1) How likely do you think it is for people to use excrement (from animals or humans) for power in residential areas?
2) Do you think the areas where the cow manure is being converted into biogas would smell bad?
3) Are there any other similar ways that we can use natural byproducts of life to create electricity?

4 comments:

  1. Hey guys. Very interesting article Erika. I find it odd and interesting that we can use the solid excretion of humans and animals to power things and make electricity. I am confused as to why we are discovering this now. With all the scientists looking for possible energy sources,I thought we would have discovered this a long time ago. If we used all the dung and manure in the world from animals and humans I onder how much electricity we could make. I have a few questions myself:

    1. How much electricity do you think we could make with all the poop from animals and humans in the world?

    2. If we used this as a source of energy how long do you think it will be before poop becomes non -renewable?

    3. Do you think that all the sites producing electricity from manure will become smelly? How smelly? Tolerable smelly?

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  2. Wow erika! that's great! They found a way to make something harming the environment, help the environment! This is a good alternative to fossil fuels for areas that are near farms, where there will be many cows. It may not be able to work everywhere but it will still be helping the environment! This new thing is good for two reasons, 1) it will not be producing any more methane if all of the cow manure is used and 2) it is a good thing to use for green energy!

    In response to your question, "How likely do you think it is for people to use excrement (from animals or humans) for power in residential areas?", I don't think it is very likely considering we don't have many cows here and i don't think people would be willing to make that kind of switch. For now, i think it will just stay near places with farms but it may spread out over time.

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  3. Wow! that's amazing! I never would have even thought of using manure to produce electricity! This is such a good discovery! It does TWO good things! It keeps the methane from the manure out of the environment, and it gives us energy! I do, however, have some questions of my own:
    1)could burning the manure give off it's own byproducts into the environment?
    2)Could we use other animals waste other than just cows and humans?
    3)could this, potentially, be a major source of our energy supply?

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  4. Cuuute title <3 and that article was really interesting that someone could take something that is basically trash and use it beneficially. I found it stunning the amount of ways there are to create cleaner electricity, but most of our energy still comes from fossil feuls!! anyhow, using the cow to our advantage besides food was a genius idea, and for all those rural families this will be a HUGE money saver for them. I know if I lived on a farm with cows, i would totally use this! Even so, i have a few questions to ask...

    1) Why would someone come up with an idea like this?
    2) If this method is often used, wouldnt cow poop eventualy become a fossil feul?
    3) It seems like this wouldnt work out too well becacause cow manure is already used for fertalizer, so wouldnt there not be enough for burning?

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