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=Methane= ==

=Cows Have the Power!= Is it possible to turn cow manure into electrical power? Yes, it is possible to do this. It can be done with a mixing tank, a digester, a generator and a storage pond. The basic process is the digester gets filled with cow manure. Since cow manure has a lot of nutrients in it, bacteria feed on the manure. In the process of digesting the manure the bacteria release methane gas. The methane gas can than be used to power a generator or a fuel cell to produce electricity.

There will always be cows on Earth producing a lot of cow manure. The major expense of turning cow manure into electricity is the initial cost of the equipment. Once the equipment is purchased, it is fairly inexpensive to operate and maintain the system. Since there are about 98 million cows in the US, there will be a lot of manure to fuel these systems. This makes it a very effective way to produce electricity thoughout the United States.

WEBSITES: Zezima, Katie. Electricity From What Cows Leave Behind. NYTimes.com. 2008. December 9, 2009. []

Auther unknown. How to Produce Electricity from a Boigas Digester. [|anaerobic-digestion.com]. 2009. December 9, 2009. []

Gaura, Maria Alicia. Agriculture. sfgatee.com. 2004. December 9, 2009 []

PICTURE: Huelsklemp, Rich. Advancing Utilization of Manure Methane Digester. University of Minnesota. 2005. December 9, 2009 []