The increasing world demand for energy and the high cost of oil and natural gas is something the United States is very concerned with. This has created much interest in alternative and renewable energy sources, such as bio fuels, forests, wind, solar and one rising interest in animal manure. United States farmers now have more accessibility to homegrown sources of renewable energy. These farm-based types of energy sources will lessen the impact on our environment by staying away from the use of fossil fuels. The fact that farmers really enjoy the idea of being "self-sufficient," and are very familiar with it, the idea of reducing dependance on foreign oil because of the farm-based resources they have is very encouraging. On many farms across the country, cow manure is being turned into natural gas as an alternative energy. As the cow manure decomposes, it begins the production of methane which is a greenhouse gas even stronger than carbon dioxide. If we can just control these methane emissions it would help a lot with climate change. Also when cow manure is treated it produces this renewable gas.
I think turning cow manure into energy is a great way to use alternative energy, and will help our economy greatly because there are many large farms all across America, many that also are losing money. This would be a good idea economically and environmentally. In large farms turning manure to energy would be extremely efficient. One dairy farm in Pennsylvania consisting of over 600 cows produced 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in one year, which was enough to power the dairy farm as well as many homes nearby (including heat and water). This saved roughly $60,000. The University of Texas at Austin actually did a study and its results stated that one billion tons of cow manure in the United States produced annually could generate about 88 billion kilowatts of electricity. This is equivalent to 2.4 percent of the annual consumption in the United States. This would obviously make a huge difference, and help out with our energy source problems.
The very first program supporting the manure-to-energy idea was CVPS Cow Power. This program provides customers with clean, renewable energy, which stops methane from getting into the atmosphere, along with helping farmers be self-sustainable and environmentally friendly. Manure is processed by a mechanical separator. CVPS customers are able to choose to receive all , half, or a quarter, of their energy (electric) through Cow Power. They pay four cents per kilowatt hour, with the money going to farm-producers participating in the area. The farm-producers are paid ninety-five percent of the market price for all the energy sold to Cow Power.
Another great part of this is that the process of changing manure to energy is that it does not change the nutrient levels at all so the manure is still valuable fertilizer. These benefits have really caught the attention of many farmers. An American Farm Bureau Federation congressional relations director, Jon Doggett spoke about the issue , ""Farmers can provide those new sources. They're available. We can be a part of the solution for a long-term, comprehensive energy plan for the United States."
-Katie Lively
Considering that livestock farms are generally not close to power plants and industrial development, it seems to me that this type of energy production would be more of a regional thing. Currently, the facilities that do use manure for energy do so on a regional basis. Considering that manure could be better used in biogas energy production, I think it should defiantly be used as an energy source in agricultural areas. Although I do agree that it is promising source for energy generation, I feel it should be part of an energy plan that takes in account the specific regional qualities, and caters energy production to the renewable source in high supply.
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This is a very interesting subject and I think is definitely worth looking into. However I just have concerns about the emissions that would be released such as Methane. Is there enough carbon sinks in the world to deal with this? I do not believe that grass could be the only portion taking up the Methane. Also if this is a really efficient way to make electricity and income. what are the possibilities of Much more cows being produced which would require more and more land causing deforestation in some areas or more cow and livestock related issues. Now could any feces be used like lamb or llama or sheep. That would be really cool. Also all of the deforestation stuff aside if 5-10 cows can power an average home what would it hurt if the current population of cows could be used sustainably to be put into the power grid. Every little bit counts.
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Looking at this idea form a different angle could not the same amount of money and emissions be saved by properly using the cow manure as field fertilizer. The idea that cow manure is inherently a waste that must be put to use in some other form is backward from what nature would have it be used for. In the savannas of Africa the wild animals manure fertilizes the grass, as the grass provides them with nutrients. Farmers who are able to follow this standard do not need to purchase industrial fertilizers thus saving money. And be being conscious of the amount of fertilizer in the form of cow manure that is being put on the fields, the reduction of methane gases occurs. Thus all it takes it a little thinking, and effort to reduce the dependence on energy all together, foreign and domestic.
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ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea. Cow manure could be used to generate energy and then used to fertilize the fields at the farm. I think that this could even be spread away from cows. I live on a horse farm and if my family and neighbors knew that their manure could be used to generate electricity I'm sure they would do it because right now we all compost it and spread it in the horse pastures. Could this type of technology be used in developing countries with livestock farms, where energy is not consistent? Countries that have unpredictable energy systems like many in south and central America could use this to produce their own electricity. Or if it is a small farm with no electricity, could their livestock's waste be used to provide them with heat in the winter? I think that this idea has a lot of promise.
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