Animal waste: Future energy, or just hot air?

Manure, when properly processed, can provide a reliable and clean source of electrical and heat energy. And as there is so much of it, many are pinning their hopes on it as the latest new renewable energy source, leading the New York Times to recently suggest it could be “the ultimate renewable source of fuel.”

According to the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), there are about 1.3 billion cattle worldwide (one for every five people), slightly more than 1 billion sheep, around 1 billion pigs, 800 million goats and 17 billion chickens.

Between them, they produce a lot of fecal matter — around 13 billion tons of it a year, according to various estimates.

Within that matter is 55 percent to 65 percent methane, which when released into the atmosphere is bad news for us (it traps heat at 23 times the rate that carbon dioxide does) — but when burned is another matter entirely. It gives us energy.

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Tagged as: Cattle, Chickens, Goats, Pigs, Sheep

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