MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentine experiment to catch livestock's flatulence and convert it into energy
Argentina's National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) has invented a way to convert cow flatulence into usable energy, and it involves putting a plastic backpack on a cow. Livestock are responsible for a remarkable amount of global methane emissions, which are a major cause of global warming. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesThere you go Geoff.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 07:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0Well I suppose they've got to try a different power source since they haven't got the dollars to buy LNG.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 08:21 am - Link - Report abuse 0Just how much flatulence is needed to power BA? A millions cows? Or just the hot air that the government currently spews out?
Connect the apparatus up to cfk's microphone to power up the country
Apr 21st, 2014 - 10:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Seems it needs an operation on each and every cow!
Apr 21st, 2014 - 12:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A back-pack should have a chemical transformative device to convert the methane gas to a solid - which can then be reconstituted to gas following collection at the morning milking. A bit like CCS.
High volume to low volume for collection and - even more importantly - for 'fuel' use. Methane pellets powering cars.
Hmm.
Methane pellets by Jimminy!
Apr 21st, 2014 - 12:47 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Let’s hope this isn’t by the use of carbon otherwise the 125 bar (1,837 psi) at 25 degC could be a bit of a problem for the backside of the cow! :o)
I can just imagine my farmer friend in the UK (250 head plus followers) allowing all of his cows to have these operations.
BTW, have a look on this poor animal’s face and the restraining straps must be comfortable, NOT.
Does anybody seriously believe that this is the way forward to reduce the 20% methane for the yanks? If they do they should have a rubber tube inserted up their rectum for a month or two and see how they like it (no operation involve either).
It will keep numbnuts at the IPCC happy.
now that the Respsol proyect “vaca muerta” (dead cow) is reaaaaally dead, they have to find cow-energy alternatives...
Apr 21st, 2014 - 01:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And this article isn't even satirical. I'm leaving Argentina in 6 months for greener pastures away from thieving politicians, presidents with botox and people that try to generate power through flatulence.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 02:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This is silly and cruel.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 03:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And it's neither April 1st nor el Día de los Inocentes!
Apr 21st, 2014 - 03:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This one is just too easy
Apr 21st, 2014 - 04:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The “global warming” scare is a fraud and this is an insane waste of time and money. It's time to drop these invented problems and start dealing with the real ones, before expanding government control of everything enslaves us and it's borrowing destroys the value of currency and crashes the economy.
Apr 21st, 2014 - 04:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@ 11 Bisley
Apr 21st, 2014 - 05:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Couldn’t have put it better myself!
The real problem with the politicians is that they never deal with the real problem. (IPCC speak)
It just goes to show,
Apr 21st, 2014 - 06:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0just how much cows and CFK have in common, depending which end its coming from,
the results are just the same.
Finally the Rg Trolls will be able to contribute....all they'll need will be a few mouthpacks....
Apr 21st, 2014 - 07:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yup, if they can harness the methane produced by cattle and find a use for jellyfish, the world will envy us.
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 03:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0There may be something in the details, but legally you can't invent something that has already been patented or otherwise published.
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 04:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0https://www.google.com/patents/US8465876?dq=methane+cattle&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ge5VU56uNcKfyQGTsIDQCA&ved=0CF4Q6AEwBQ
Easy jokes aside, Its not actually flatulence, its the eructation of the rumiant process that produces all of the gas... Still the surgery to have in place a fistula in order to test the digestibility of different feed of livestock in the rumen of a cow is a common procedure and the animal doesnt even feel it, you can take the cap off and remove samples of the rumen with your hands and the cow doesnt even notice it....This however it is a expensive surgery and takes special care of the animal and a constant watch for infection...I dont see this as practical nor economically viable in large scale.
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 04:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0I always wondered how about a way of harnessing the gas of maize silage. If it hasn't been done so far is that probably the volume and purity of the gas good enough?? Dont know
I do know its damn inflammable
How cruel and stupid.
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 08:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0If grass is cut and put into a (metallic) methane digester it will produce lots of methane as will other organic matter.
The principle of producing methane gas from organic matter is a good one and should be pursued more vigorously but this is not going to be viable as well as being cruel.
@18
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 12:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Well to be fair the whole production process does involve a lot of aspects that would be considered cruel. Feed lots and intensive corral almost has a the animals liver destroyed after been in permanent acidosis.
Dairy cows that are producing record amounts of milk nowdays are put through tremendous pain.
I've seen a fair plenty of unnecessary cruelty inflicted on beef cattle on pasture systems that are common in Argentina, calves lazooed from horseback and dragged for a field.
Belive you me a lot of animal produce that you see on your supermarket involves a fair degree of cruelty as it is.
@ 19 CabezaDura2
Apr 22nd, 2014 - 09:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Belive you me a lot of animal produce that you see on your supermarket involves a fair degree of cruelty as it is.”
I am sure you are correct in everything that you say, given there is no effective control of animal cruelty like there is in the developed world, BUT that is no excuse to encourage it.
I agree, but what Im saying as agriculture and farming turns more industrial like some aspects like these are inevitable in order to cut costs and increase production and efficency. Even in the developed world you cant escape this norm.
Apr 23rd, 2014 - 01:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Maybe consumers have a choice to buy from local and small family farmers like it happens in small towns in Europe Australian and NZ but then most people always prefer the cheapest.
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