Cow Power

Cow Power

“In a sense, it is the ultimate renewable source of fuel. Weather anomalies can kill off corn crops, calm the winds, obscure the sun — but through rain or shine, gusts or stillness, cows and hogs and turkeys spew forth a steady stream of manure, one of nature's richest sources of methane, a principal component of natural gas.”

I came across an interesting article on the subject many have termed “Brown Energy”, and thought I’d post some relevant highlights as well as ask for feedback regarding perceived merits from everyone.

The article, written by Claudia H. Deutsch for the NYT gave me some ponders as to the application of technology to sustainable resources. Several of the ‘benefits’ seem to have merit and value; I’d be interested in your thoughts.

Excerpts:

“…now, farmers and entrepreneurs are recognizing that this immutable fact can yield a steady stream of revenue and profit, too. Slowly, but steadily, they are replacing the malodorous lagoons used to treat the waste with machines that can wrest energy from excrement.”

“…technologies, some of which have been around for decades, have finally grown more reliable. "There's been a lot of time and energy spent on making these as effective and efficient as possible, so anaerobic digestion will be a growing business," said Daniel J. Mannes, vice president of Avondale Partners, a securities research firm that recently initiated coverage of the Environmental Power Corporation, the company in Portsmouth, N.H., that owns Microgy.”

"The business model of producing energy along with food will transform the economics of rural America,"

said Michael T. Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, based in Washington.

(continues)

Indeed, anaerobic digestion yields not just methane, but leftover liquids that farmers can use or sell as fertilizer, waste heat that can heat their homes and barns, and fibrous solids that make excellent bedding for cows. Farmers also save the costs of controlling odors and treating waste. "Two years ago I couldn't even convince farmers that digesters work," said Melissa Dvorak, marketing manager for GHD, a company based in Chilton, Wis., that sells digesters. "Now, all they ask is what the payback will be."

Now proper research will provide information that some of this “(cow) Pie in the Sky” hype is funded in part by good ole’ government subsidies (to which this author is not a big fan of by any measure) so it will be interesting to see how this plays out – sustainable development or just old fashion BS? You decide.

Note: This author does own shares in Environmental Power Corporation (EPG) and in no way shape or form recommends or suggests investing, purchasing or even remotely considering purchase of/or investing in such company or any company for that matter. Fact of the matter is this company is likely to go “belly up” as much as going “sky high”, as well any reference to “belly up” no way is a solicitation to ‘cow tipping’ and ‘sky high’ does not infer that one should go ‘sky diving’. All these thing are inherently dangerous and could incur risk to you or the cows. Caveat emptor; drive responsibly, blah, blah, blah……………I hope that covered it! Regards.