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52 percent energy yield from cow dung fermentation

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posted on Apr, 21 2017 @ 04:14 PM
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I have seen a few technologies that allow natural gas to provide household energy. A favorite is a nearly zero emission box that is installed in your back yard by whoever your provider/developer is that is fed natural gas. This gas is then used to fuel a generator that captures and recombusts emissions.

You get a slightly more efficient use of energy, but using an electric stove really sucks.

I wonder if the idea of having individual power plants would catch on? I would personally prefer that as it would lower the long term costs (presuming it didn't break all the time). I don't even limit the idea to natural gas. Although I think capturing and refining it is likely a better idea as our current waste begins to release it.



posted on Apr, 21 2017 @ 06:43 PM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

We do recycling containers and composting, though I'm admittedly still learning with my own composting. My 1st container is way too big and way too full, which makes it hard to mix. I suspect that a lot of it isn't breaking down fast enough. So I'm working on 2 more DIY containers so I can thin it out & give it more room to breathe.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I wish I could say we don't use any inorganic things but I still use this one mosquito spray in the lawn & non-fruit trees. I think it's the type of composted manure we get, but that crap (pun intended) always seems to be infested with mosquitoes. Every 2 weeks or so, my nephew (and sometimes his sisters) come over and I finished with having them get bit up. And I had to declare war on stinkbugs last year because they swarmed & killed my Mom's squash plants, cucumber plants, and watermelon vines.

I'm torn now on organic vs results. Almost all of our stuff is organic, but I'm personally not really growing stuff for that reason. I've been running all kinds of experiments on how to grow various things, companion crops for other crops, etc and simply want results. My main purpose is to reteach people how to have their own productive food supplies at home, be it in an apartment or a full lawn. But at the same time, there's no point growing a ton of food if it has no nutrients, is covered in poisons, and kills off all of the bees and other pollinators. I also have a personal grudge w/Monsanto so I hate all of their products regardless of how they fit into my equation. Trying to find a balance sucks. lol
edit on 21-4-2017 by enlightenedservant because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 21 2017 @ 06:47 PM
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"Who run Bartertown? Who... run... Bartertown?"
Anyway good news!



posted on Apr, 21 2017 @ 07:02 PM
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a reply to: galien8

I was wondering because I saw this in an article not too long ago:



A commercial farm in Kenya has become Africa's first electricity producer powered by biogas to sell surplus electricity to the national grid, cutting the carbon emissions associated with oil-powered generation.

The Gorge Farm Energy Park in Naivasha produces 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity - more than enough to cultivate its 706 hectares (1,740 acres) of vegetables and flowers, and with sufficient surplus to meet the power needs of 5,000-6,000 rural homes.



The plant produces biogas through anaerobic digestion, a process in which crop residue from the farm is digested by micro-organisms. The biogas produced is burned in two engines, producing both electricity and heat in a process called cogeneration.

Producing the same amount of energy using diesel would require 5 million litres of fuel annually, Nolan explained, plus the extra fuel required to transport the diesel inland from the port of Mombasa.

Africa's First Grid-Connected Biogas Plant Powers Up

From the way they described it, it seems like they simply captured the gas that came off of the crop waste as it was being composted. It made me wonder if we could eventually have small gas "catchers" coming off of at-home compost piles, which would create our own biogas. Then again, it also sounds a lot like part of the process of making alcohol, since it's letting the organic matter break down and then capturing the flammable gases that come off it. So I don't know if they'd allow this at home.



posted on Apr, 21 2017 @ 07:16 PM
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a reply to: enlightenedservant

Exactly!! Our 'raised garden bed' experiment that took the place of the diseased elm that died 10 years ago never did grow anything very well.

We are under black walnuts, also. Had the trees trimmed by an arborist, and thought I'd have more "full sun." But no.
The other trees just moved into the empty canopy space.



posted on Apr, 22 2017 @ 03:57 AM
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a reply to: WeRpeons

#nicholastesla

Which begs the question if they suppress technology when do we see a change for the better
edit on 22-4-2017 by Sillyosaurus because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 22 2017 @ 08:07 AM
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a reply to: enlightenedservant

en.wikipedia.org...

with this technology we can generate enough energy to give 99% coverage of world energy demand (numbers from 1996)

if all organic waste (agriculture, life stock manure, household waste etc.) is used as the feed


edit on 2017-4-22 by galien8 because: extra info



posted on Apr, 25 2017 @ 01:34 PM
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originally posted by: enlightenedservant
a reply to: galien8

I'm curious about something. What happens to the manure once this process is finished? As in, does the manure become unusable as a fertilizer or is this gas simply a result of the composting process?


In Holland (my country) there is a surplus of cow dung (manure). There is not enough land and meadows to spread the manure as fertilizer for plant growth. Not even when the fermentor has done its work, so derrie comes in, (also) derrie and biogas comes out. Manure is rich in nitrates and phosphates, there is already to much phosphate and nitrate in the soil, this also tends to leak to the underground drinking water storage (so storage in the soil). However the good news is this is a local Dutch problem only, all other countries, or lets say most countries, do not have this problem, there is more than enough land in the world to spread the fermentor treated manure as fertilizer, no phosphate and nitrate problem in the world.



posted on Apr, 25 2017 @ 01:43 PM
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a reply to: galien8

That makes sense. I was wondering because the more I get into growing my crops, the more dependent I've become on manure (which sounds weird lol). Even now I've got 3 more 50lb bags of composted cow manure and about 10 more bags of compost & potting soil mixes, not to mention my own compost.

But it makes sense from what you're describing w/your country. I hope it works out for you all.



posted on Apr, 25 2017 @ 07:20 PM
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originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
I have seen a few technologies that allow natural gas to provide household energy. A favorite is a nearly zero emission box that is installed in your back yard by whoever your provider/developer is that is fed natural gas. This gas is then used to fuel a generator that captures and recombusts emissions.

You get a slightly more efficient use of energy, but using an electric stove really sucks.

I wonder if the idea of having individual power plants would catch on? I would personally prefer that as it would lower the long term costs (presuming it didn't break all the time). I don't even limit the idea to natural gas. Although I think capturing and refining it is likely a better idea as our current waste begins to release it.


We at the Wigstead are always producing ideas like in off-grid Mother Jones type stuff: building an oven of cardboard and batteries, or a generator with a squirrel and a bicycle.....
kind of a hobby. Innovative "make do" solutions to homesteading problems. Reclaiming building materials, reuse, repurpose, recycle. "Make Do Enterprises"



posted on Apr, 25 2017 @ 07:21 PM
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a reply to: enlightenedservant

The horses were the best for that! My mom's garden became showcaseable!!



posted on Apr, 25 2017 @ 10:49 PM
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originally posted by: enlightenedservant
a reply to: galien8

That makes sense. I was wondering because the more I get into growing my crops, the more dependent I've become on manure (which sounds weird lol). Even now I've got 3 more 50lb bags of composted cow manure and about 10 more bags of compost & potting soil mixes, not to mention my own compost.

But it makes sense from what you're describing w/your country. I hope it works out for you all.


You mean your urban garden becomes addicted to manure?
Has positive tolerance? = needs more and more and more? If true this would be strange, but I'm not a plant physiologist, maybe that is some how normal, or the nitrate and phosphate content goes down from manure batch to manure batch



posted on Apr, 26 2017 @ 12:27 AM
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a reply to: galien8

Nah, it's more like I'm finally realizing the benefits of it. When I first started, I'd simply do the grunt work for my Mom's urban garden and study my sister's urban garden (hers was more diverse while my Mom's was larger). I was still more into foraging and "survivalist" stuff at the time, so I just wanted to let my own things grow w/a bare minimum of human intervention. Basically I just wanted to see what would grow and survive on its own while ignoring all of the "proven" ways to grow stuff.

That approach both failed & succeeded for me. On one hand, I saw that a lot of things could survive way outside of their optimal growing conditions (like temperature ranges, soil types, etc). But on the other hand, most of them barely produced anything at all. So it's like I was good at growing plants but horrible at growing crops. For example, my broccoli, turnips, & rutabagas still grew their edible leaves, but not the broccoli florets/heads or the big root for the rutabagas or turnips.

So this year I'm actually trying to grow crops, test out companion plants, etc. I'm trying to follow the rules and proven techniques much closer to see just how much I can harvest. In other words, I was arrogant for ignoring the centuries worth of techniques that have created our modern glut of food. And I'm learning that cow poo is a magnificent pillar in our food supply lol. It's at the point where I joke with my sister and Mom that I'm going to buy them either a cow or a goat, just so they can have an endless supply of "farming gold".



posted on Apr, 26 2017 @ 12:31 AM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Hmmm, but is horse poo as frequently "supplied" as cow poo? LOL I haven't gotten into using other sources of manure yet, so I'm not sure if they're as amazing as the bovine variety. (yes, I think I'm becoming a cow manure elitist, if such a thing exists lol)



posted on Apr, 26 2017 @ 06:16 AM
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a reply to: enlightenedservant

It's not as nasty, not big sticky piles of goop...but it's plenty. Horse apples are drier, firmer, and a lot easier to rake up than cow pies. And they don't wallow in it.

edit on 4/26/2017 by BuzzyWigs because: (no reason given)



posted on Apr, 26 2017 @ 07:35 AM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Ok, then I concede. lol



posted on Apr, 26 2017 @ 07:44 AM
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a reply to: enlightenedservant

Kenya may be leading us forward in the bio arena.




posted on Apr, 30 2017 @ 01:17 AM
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originally posted by: enlightenedservant

either a cow or a goat, just so they can have an endless supply of "farming gold".





Making gold from poo is THE alchemistic process ;-)



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