Baby you can drive my cow pattie powered car
by TreeHugger on 05.15.05
Notwithstanding our reservations about the hydrogen economy and our previous posts about poo power, It seems that a Minnesota dairy farm run by the Hubenschild family has been making biogas (methane, carbon dioxide and water vapour) by feeding cow manure into an anaerobic digester. Now they have converted the biogas to hydrogen and fed it into a hydrogen fuel cell and are producing electricity.(this is one high-tech farm).
Prior to the installation of the fuel cell, the Haubenschilds pumped the biogas straight into an engine connected to a generator, selling 2/3 of it to a cooperative and serving 78 homes.
"In farming, you have to work with Mother Nature," Haubenschild said. "If you're not an environmentalist, you're not going to be successful." ::Futurewire by [LA]
This is so the future. When we can move from the massive scale production of meat and dairy to people producing what they need in their back yard and digesting all of their own waste in a convenient manner will our cities' failing infrastructures be relieved. Process your own poo at home and make electricity to drive to work. Biogas digest as much organic waste as you can. Grow a little livestock in the backyard and process its' waste. I think that the first company that comes to market with a viable solution for this technology for the home could make a bundle if they convince city governments to subsidise these going into homes.