So, you do know where this is leading, don’t you? Everyone required by international law to wear their Al Gore Signature Fart Collection device. They’ll come in a range of designer colors, of course.
In the future, America will harness cow farts to curb pollution and power the grid. What? It sounds like a joke, but it’s actually a real promise. By 2020, dairy industry emissions will be reduced by 25%, largely by persuading dairy farmers to capture methane gas, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced at the Copenhagen climate change summit this week. Farmers will be able to buy anaerobic digesters that convert cow, errr, emissions into electricity.
You’ve heard the over-simplified message from vegetable-positive environmental groups: eating animal products is a big cause of global warming. Indeed, 7% of the greenhouse gas emissions produced from U.S. sources are from agriculture. The dairy industry is ripe for change, with only 2% of the farmers whose operations are suited for methane capture currently making use of it.
Just how bad a problem are dairy emissions? Well, it’s a greatly increasing problem — up 40% in the past decade. But compared, say, to the driving a car or even a tractor, dairy pollution is pretty insignificant. Of the 6.7% of overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 attributed to agriculture, 10.7% were from the methane of “manure management,” mostly from pork and dairy farms.
I just had two bean burritos for dinner. Tomorrow I could power Pittsburgh.
Dude, that’s no joke. I once saw an interview on TV here in Brazil with a farmer who does that. Not only does that run his entire farm, he also sells surplus energy to nearby industries and makes quite some money from it. It really works.
PUCKER POWER..
FEEL THE BURN
Rush Limbaugh’s ass could be the 5th largest energy reserve.
That shits not gona work.
I say It’s Load of Bull Crap
One thing for sure is that the global warming hoax/hype has forced all common sense to disappear like a fart in the wind.
Sniffing for cow farts as a viable energy source?
Perfect, just perfect.
#2 :uc – I have no doubt it ‘could’ work but I fear the costs involved will make it prohibitive. It’s not just the equiment and anerobes to process the gas, it’s capturing the gas. If Uncle Dave is accurate in his theorized fart collection devices, then all well and good. But, actually, they will need to pen the cattle and enclose the pens and start air conditioning them which will engender a huge energy expenditure and new protests from PETA. And meat cattle need some exercise to make their muscles edible. This article spoke mostly of dairy cattle and they spend some time indoors, already. So, if it can work, great. I wouldn’t peg my hopes of energy independence on it.
Check out this dairy farm.
I’ve wondered about this before … because Methane is lighter than air, you could potentially capture it if the cattle are under a roof. Suck all the air up through vents in the roof, in to some kind of large separation tank, where the Methane can rise to the top and the air sink out the bottom. You could also vent your local sewers in to the tank, which you’d obviously want well away from any houses.
You won’t get methane of quality comparable to natural gas, but perhaps that could power a hot water boiler. It might not even smell after the separation process.
I’ll volunteer to shove the first one up Al’s butt.
What is the carbon tax on a cow fuel gonna be? Burning cow generated methane in the presence of oxygen produces carbon dioxide and water.
Obama’s job stimulus plan? Smells like Bullsh!t to me
Mmmm, burgers cooked with cow gas.
Bah – Anybody that’s seen Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (or worked a pig farm), know’s that pig excrement is much more potent. Human effluents are pretty good too. Maybe they should obligate all sewage treatment plants to incorporate methane capture.
Incorporating methane capture and energy generation into sewage ponds has long struck me as a untapped energy source. The amount of energy we could capture and use just by doing this is enormous. Why not use it if it is available? This is not high technology here.
The cowpots people have been using this technology for years to run their business. Turn about turning shit into gold!
Sure, if you kill all of the big animals they won’t fart. So what happens to the biomass? It will break down anyway. If you kill all little animals down past the bugs the bacteria and fungia will still do it.
The net gain on this is 0.
Just stop recycling and bury your trash and garbage in the landfill like always to sequester carbon. Duh!
Burn 1 kg of methane and you get 2.75 kg of CO2!
Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 though.
Maybe the cows ought to lay off the dairy…. dairy always gives me gas.
I remember doing that with a buddy in a closet
during basic training in 1952. It lit up but burned the hairs in his ass, and the stink was unbareable. Never crossed our minds to harness that energy for the good.
#5 – The hell with Rush Limbaugh’s ass. Capture the hot air from Congress. That ought to be enough to power the whole eastern seaboard.
Is this cow fart thing another one of Al Gore’s ideas? After hearing him proclaim that the earth core was a million degrees. I no longer take him seriously about anything. This latest notion isn’t changing my mind.