Cow Power

As we search for alternative fuel/ energy sources we are finding many ideas. It has been said by President Obama there is no one answer, but in our pursuit to find answers, the end result will be many sources of alternate energy. Coming from Wisconsin and growing up cleaning many cow pens, it is great to see that one source will come from the farming area that makes sense.

Farms are using the cow manure but in China are using chicken manure as well, to power their farms and neighboring factories or homes. Instead of applying the cow manure directly to the fields for fertilizer and dealing with run off contaminating the local ground water, they capture manure into large contained domed structures. The domed structures capture the methane gas that occurs with the fermentation of the materials. This is the same gas that is occurring during the break down of decaying matter that escapes unused in landfills. They then use the methane gas to power electrical generators. Though it is just catching on in the U.S., China and other European nations are  moving fast to implement this process in their farming activities. Though this addresses some of the alternative fuel  needs it does not address the green house gas situation. I can see that if certain methods are used to capture those gases that are harmful to the Ozone in the process, it can indeed be an attractive alternative. Read more at:China to use GE's technology to produce the largest energy producer from animal waste in the world.