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Powering Cars with Waste Fuel
Sure your car might be able to run on waste fuel, but what will it do to your car? Read on and find out how waste fuel works in cars. More…
Waste Fuel and Greenhouse Gases
Learn how affect our environment and how waste fuel can combat the negative affects. More…
Other Renewable Energy Sources
Waste fuel is one source of renewable energy, but there are other sources out there. Discover where these new energy sources are coming from. More…
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Byproducts Used to Make Waste Fuel
Getting Fuel from Waste Materials: Animal Waste to Energy
The growing human population demands that we create bigger farms where we can plant more crops and raise more animals. However, the problem is that with so many animals waste management becomes an issue. In fact, in the US alone, there are over 9 million dairy animals, over 60 million pigs, 7.7 million chickens and other poultry, as well as almost 100 million cattle being raised on farms. These millions and millions of animals greatly contribute to waste disposal problems.
The more pressing issue with raising farm animals using traditional methods is that, these animals’ wastes will degrade and release a lot of methane gas and carbon dioxide into the air. Both these gases will escape into the atmosphere and add to greenhouse gases. Not only can poor waste management contribute to global warming, it can also compromise human safety. When this type of animal waste is not contained properly, they can seep into groundwater and eventually flow to streams and rivers. This dangerous side affect can lead to water contamination.
In the past many would say that animal waste simply cannot be handled further for any use. But in today’s world and with today’s technology this is not true. Armed with proper knowledge and equipment, people can turn this possible environmental disaster into an energy-producing enterprise.
What exactly does this mean for us? It means we can now harness the solid wastes of animals and process their methane content for use as power. At this point, animal manure can effectively become waste fuel. With careful treating and processing, animal waste can be turned into viable fuel for sustainable energy purposes.
How can we turn animal waste into waste fuel? The process of harnessing the energy potential of solid animal waste is via the anaerobic digestion process. This process has two main steps. First, it uses acid forming bacteria to break down the complex organic materials found in animal manure. The resulting products are much simpler compounds which include volatile acids.
Next, methane-producing bacteria are introduced to convert volatile acids into a mixture composed of carbon dioxide and methane. This mixture is referred to as biogas. In most cases, these two processes can be done in just one tank. However, if you want to optimize operation, it would be advisable to put each process in a separate tank. Generally, the manure is kept in the tank at a warm 120 degrees for up to three weeks.
After the anaerobic digestion, the methane gas is then used as energy through various mechanical systems, such as to power generators. It can also be used for heating and cooling purposes which is a huge energy consumer. The energy collected through this process is pretty amazing. A single anaerobic manure digester can make enough power to provide electricity to up to 600 homes. That is equivalent to around 775 kilowatts of energy.
With just one anaerobic digestion facility, a sizeable farm can use manure to power the entire establishment, which could lead to cuts in costs for food production which could then help in lowering the prices of food for consumers. With this in place, the supply of electricity will never be a problem as long as there is animal waste.
