Posted on 11/29/2014 8:23:55 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
Three Turkish engineers have developed a system that produces electricity from intestinal gases collected from cows in barns. They aim to enable farmers to create additional revenue from this energy, which will be generated in 4,000 barns.
“Our project is based on collecting and decomposing intestinal gases from cows to produce an energy resource. Cows produce more gas than other animals due to their unique intestinal system. For instance, a human produces 0.5 liters of gas a day, but a cow is able to produce up to 580 liters of gas,” said one of the engineers, Şafak Karatepe.
Yalçın Öztürk, Mert Çakman and Karatepe from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) aim to create additional income for Turkish farms by selling their system, called BioCower, to be used in more than 4,000 barns with over 100 cows.
The engineers said a news story about the explosion of a barn in Germany with no healthy ventilation system due to high levels of gas had inspired them to develop the system.
Is there any process to convert grass to methane directly?
Next step .. how to get mother-in-law in barn.
[Is there any process to convert grass to methane directly?]
I believe it must go through the four-stomach digestive process.
A new meaning for the word hoser.
Blazing Saddles!
It’s a new technology, frarting.
Could enzymes and other things be used to break it down?
Frarting will expel the global warming cow fart myth.
best post of the morning, ha!
You can ferment the grass. Forms both ethanol and methane.
What the cow has in her abdomen is a large fermentation tank, the rumen, which uses bacterial digestive functions to produce a wide range of organic materials from surprising sources (like producing a full range of proteins from urea and otherwise non-digestible carbohydrates known as fiber), as well as a full component of all the vitamins the cow needs to produce milk from a diet no more complex than grass and grains. The methane is merely a by-product of this biological activity.
A similar fermentation tank could be constructed, and anaerobic bacteria culture introduced, that would produce methane in plenty of quantity, so long as the proper temperature and feedstock keep on coming.
This is probably even easier than trying to produce alcohol by fermentation.
Is there any process to convert grass to methane directly?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Chew cud try doing it yourself without a cow.
You haven't met my hubby.
Somehow, I think we could save several costly steps in making chocolate milk, if that is still allowed by Michelle.
Turkish engineers to produce cowlombs of electricity from cows’ intestinal gas
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