The Scoop On This Poop!

I don't know about you, but it is pretty difficult for a city girl like me to think anything about cow manure other than...the god awful stench. Although my interest in environmental issues has shed a whole new light...or scoop on this poop sort to speak!It has come to my attention that Wisconsin is planning to power up some houses using cow manure, and all I can say is thank god electricity is odorless.

Now seriously folks, this is pretty neat stuff. Anyone who is environmentally inclined realizes the need for alternative energy sources, and voila we are presented with a heap of...well you know!!

A chemical reaction takes place when manure is decomposing, which produces methane gas. Methane is considered an alternative energy source, so the next step was to figure out how to retrieve this gas from the manure. A simple explanation would be composting. Basically they contain the manure and as it breaks down the gas is trapped. The trapped gas is then utilized to run a power plant, which in turn provides energy to surrounding areas.

According to a news report on ENN, "Wisconsin Electric will purchase the renewable electricity generated from a manure digester facility". As well it has been estimated that this source of energy will provide power to approximately 150 houses in the area.

Using dung for power is not a new concept, and is in fact used in less developed countries for this purpose. Unfortunately for our larger power-hungry society, it would provide insufficient energy for our demands. In China, there are still many people without the benefit of electricity. Many of the ones blessed with this commodity, receive it as a result of manure composting. The facilities that are responsible for the containment of manure are actually called "biogas digesters". These digesters are economically feasible and fairly effective for power production on a small scale. Not to mention the health benefit to the environment, by reducing the amount of pollution generated from the conversion of fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are still the main producers of our energy, and are a major contributing factor to our pollution levels today. The use of manure is a more economical choice for energy, as well as being a fairly renewable source. Eventually we will deplete our fossil fuel sources, or will be forced to use something that may be more harmful to environmental health. It may be possible to use more of these types of alternative sources if our demand was reduced, thus making them more feasible.

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