The national debate about energy policy needs to include honest and accurate discussion about just how much oil is left to extract around the globe, how much of it we can expect to appropriate, and where the U.S. currently gets most of its oil from. I'm not going to attempt to do that here and now, but I view claims we need to plan for an oil-free future as absurdly over-stated. The future mix of energy sources for the U.S. will need to include oil, clean-coal, a sane discussion of added nuclear fuel production, plus so-called renewable energy sources - such as wind, solar and manure. Yes, manure. It's a growth industry, as it happens. Let's, ah, drill down into the dung heap for a moment, shall we?

Good news today from Japan, where enterprising scientists have developed a process to extract gasoline (and separately, vanillin) from cow dung.

A Wisconsin dairy farmer is evangelizing about anaerobic digesters, which can convert cow dung inro a methane-rich gas used to power generators and yield electricity. Experts are pumped up:

About 110 digesters are in operation around the country, and another 70 are planned, said Kurt Roos, manager of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's AgSTAR program. Most of them are at dairy farms in the Midwest, California, New York and Pennsylvania. The average cost of a digester is nearly $1.5 million, and it takes about six years to earn back that original investment without any grants, said (Larry) Krom (business sector manager of the state Focus on Energy's renewable energy program), whose organization (was) one of the sponsors of the (late January) Madison conference (on digestors and other manure to fuel technologies). "But once it pays for itself, it becomes sort of a cash cow," Krom said, especially as energy costs continue upward.

A Utah professor has a start-up that's marketing the same technology, too: another benefit is odor control.

"Agricultural-based renewable fuels" are gaining attention in Michigan, as well - including methane derived from farm animal manure.

The Sheboygan Press just yesterday editorialized in favor of a state legislation requiring Wisconsin utilities to draw 10 percent of their energy from alternative sources by 2015; noting that manure, wind and solar are all feasible options.

Panda International Energy will build a $120 million plant in Hereford, Texas, where much of the 6,300 tons of cow manure produced by local herds daily will be converted to gas, which will then be used to produce ethanol from corn in the new facility.

It all kind of gives new resonance to the old phrases, "making lemonade from lemons," and even, "what a pile of s***."

What a pile, indeed.

TECHNORATI TAGS: ANAEROBIC DIGESTORS, COW MANURE, METHANE, ETHANOL, RENEWABLE ENERGY

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 3, 2006 10:51 AM