Making Electricity From Manure

Project in southwest Kansas will turn cattle manure into electricity by early next year
By Associated Press
8:53 AM CST, December 9, 2009

ANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The cattle manure in a feedlot in southwest Kansas may soon be providing electricity to nearby homes.

Gene Pflughoft is the economic development director for Grant County. He says that early next year, equipment at a cattle feedlot will begin turning manure into fuel that could make electricity for 30 homes.

If the project is successful, larger units could be placed at other feedlots to start making use of the ample supply of cattle manure in Kansas.

A Bipartisan Policy Conference in Washington recently issued a study that said 50,000 cows could provide enough dung to power 24,000 homes.

The report said Kansas, which has two cows for every human, could use more cattle manure by mixing it with coal. Link

Too many times I see people refer to manure as a waste product. Some even refer to it as toxic waste. If you hear those things, you can feel free to assume that whoever said it doesn’t know anything about the subject. It’s not a waste product, it’s a valuable nutrient. It can be used for organic fertilizer, thus reducing the need for fossil fuel based fertilizers. And, it can also be used to generate energy. Manure gets a bad rap when in fact we couldn’t do well without it.