Cow dung is the solution to South Africa’s energy crisis

Ockie said:
This is hardly a new idea. What makes her plan different to what is already out there? :confused:
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So if it's not a new idea it's not worth doing?
Or are you complaining that there is a news article about it?
I don't know if it's newsworthy or not but I'm glad to see someone is focusing on biogas from dung as a source of power.
The real revolution will happen when human waste is used in the same way though.
 
C4Cat said:
So if it's not a new idea it's not worth doing?
Or are you complaining that there is a news article about it?
I don't know if it's newsworthy or not but I'm glad to see someone is focusing on biogas from dung as a source of power.
The real revolution will happen when human waste is used in the same way though.
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No. That is not what I am saying. I think it is a great idea, but it is not new. Harvesting biogas from landfills etc have been around for a while. Just saying that this is hardly earth shattering. I would be much more impressed if the article was about JHB or Cape Town actually implementing it, not a university student telling us about something that we already know. /shrug.
 
The more the merrier.

I know some Texas university runs pretty much purely on cow poop and of course we already have a few local people using human waste as a gas source for household cooking.

http://www.biogassa.co.za/
 
Is the BMW plant in Roslyn not also running on cowdung from the feedlots?
 
Nerfherder said:
They must go large on this so that the damn vegans can STFU
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Cow dung is awesome ****!

Very odd I suppose but I go into the field next to our house and collect a bag for my compost once to twice a month :)
 
Buckminster Fuller designed a a waterless packaging toilet that shrink-wrapped human waste for pickup for later composting and biogas generation. In 1930. I've always thought it's a great idea - the toilet doesn't smell because the waste is vacuum packed. A truck comes by once a week or once a month to pick up the bin of plastic packets. It takes it to a biogas / composting plant where it is converted into gas which can be piped back to the homes or used to generate electricity. The plastic can be reused. Currently we sht in our clean drinking water, contaminate it and then flush it away, often into the sea. Makes no sense. Unfortunately this is one of those ideas that has to be implemented by a community - it's not something an individual could just decide to do.
 
I looked into this extensively around 25 years ago. There were some SA projects and enthusiasts around then. Not only do you create energy but reduce the methane going into the atmosphere. I used to pass a feedlot where the manure was sprayed onto crops. That was smelly and inefficient and a biodigester would have produced a higher quality fertiliser as a by product. The key problem with cow manure is it is low quality biodigester fuel relative to human and pig waste and prefers a reasonable base temperature to digest quickly. That was the challenge to making it less cost-effective. However fuel prices have shot up and greenhouse gases become more of an issue so the timing now is probably very good.
 
This will also then null the Vegans and Vegetarians argument that us meat lovers is the cause for green house gasses (from cows) causing the ozone to be farked. Now the cows can be the salvation to more than just our hunger...:D
 
Chris.Geerdts said:
I looked into this extensively around 25 years ago. There were some SA projects and enthusiasts around then. Not only do you create energy but reduce the methane going into the atmosphere. I used to pass a feedlot where the manure was sprayed onto crops. That was smelly and inefficient and a biodigester would have produced a higher quality fertiliser as a by product. The key problem with cow manure is it is low quality biodigester fuel relative to human and pig waste and prefers a reasonable base temperature to digest quickly. That was the challenge to making it less cost-effective. However fuel prices have shot up and greenhouse gases become more of an issue so the timing now is probably very good.
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:rolleyes:
 
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