The Globe and Mail, Monday July 21, 2008
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080721.wfarms21/BNStory/National/home
The idea of using cow manure for fuel is not a new one. Haven’t we all seen video clips of people in developing nations making cow patties to burn so as to cook the family meal? However, the idea of using cow manure to create electricity is amazing to me. And to make it even better, it sounds like it is a promising endeavour that could actually work in the long run as well as the short term. The initial project in Ilderton, ON seems to be working quite well and has the support of the Ontario government as well as the University of Western Ontario. There are also projects in Germany that are doing well also. I may be just too excited about this as I have just finished the article but this could be the answer to all our problems.
The world has been going crazy about oil and trying to make renewable greener energy for a few years now. Canada has not been so crazy about this as we have the tar sands in Alberta but we have still been upset about the environmental damage, or at least some of us have. Ethanol has been the latest craze in this whirlwind but it has its price, literally. Food prices have been rising for a number of reasons around the world and the use of corn for ethanol instead of food is one of these. Can you imagine if we could find a sustainable way to use a waste product for electricity? If the Stanton farm and the projects in Germany are really as good as I hope they are, we may have found it.
Manure is a renewable resource for sure and except for fertilizer its not really needed for anything. Turning it into electricity would help the farmers get rid of their extra manure as well as help our energy consumption. The article does talk about it not being economically feasible for smaller farms but nothing is economically feasible for the smaller organizations in the beginning. Hopefully with more research and time this could be the energy producer of the future.
I know there have got to be more problems that will need to be worked out and we are a long way off from using manure as our primary source of electricity but that does not diminish my excitement for the possibilities this brings up.
2 comments:
Cow patties for fuel? I'm not too sure about this. What will we use for fertilizer if all the patties are used for fuel?
Interesting concept. I think we should be doing anything we can to get away from the use of oil. Canada needs to step up and take a greater role in the search for renewable energy sources.
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