Your Home May Be Powered By Pig Poop Soon

The idea might sound vaguely familiar to anyone who remembers Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but it actually is possible to turn pig manure into methane gas. Currently, most pigs are raised in concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs that store the resulting manure and urine in lagoons where anaerobic bacteria help to decompose it. In the process, methane gas, carbon dioxide, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide are produced which can create problems. Both the methane and carbon dioxide act as greenhouse gases with methane being 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in particular are toxic to people. More trouble can result when heavy rains cause the lagoons to overflow into rivers and ultimately into human water supplies. Pathogens, nitrates, and salts are among various contaminants introduced by these events into soil as well as water.

Natural Gas from Poo-Poo

Flammable methane gas already occurs due to anaerobic bacteria consuming pig manure in the oxygen-free environment below the surface of waste lagoons set up by hog farmers starting in the early 1950s. Technology to generate methane from sewage through anaerobic digestion begin in the late 19th century and the idea of specifically harnessing it at US hog farms began in the 1970s. Pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc has revived the process for a variety of hog operations connected to their company throughout the country. Harnessing methane consists of covering a lagoon with an airtight canvas that allows all of the waste to undergo anaerobic digestion including the surface material that’s typically exposed to air. Pipes inserted into the canvas draw the resulting gases into a purifying device where other gases like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are removed. Then the remaining methane can be introduced into local natural gas supply lines. Along with capturing damaging gases before they enter the atmosphere, this method helps keep out rainwater that can lead to overflows.

Turning Ideas into Actions 

Hog production facilities in three states, North Carolina, Missouri, and Utah, are being used to help Smithfield meet goals of reducing greenhouse gas levels currently produced by standard hog farming methods. In North Carolina, the Optima KV project collects waste from three operations into five lagoon digesters that generate methane capable of providing electricity for 1,000 households. Given that hurricane Florence recently dropped nearly 36 inches of rain in some spots, the ability of this technology to prevent lagoon flooding is particularly valuable. In Missouri, the installation of methane collection technology has a bit of a twist to it since it includes gathering grass from wild prairies. Smithfield has helped aid in methane production over the winter when anaerobic digestion at the lagoons slows. Finally, while the work in North Carolina is done in conjunction with OptimaBio LLC and the Missouri work is in partnership with Roeslein Alternative Energy, methane capture in Utah is being performed solely by Smithfield Foods. Here, plan is to erect 26 new hog farms equipped with methane-collecting lagoons that will supply energy to 4,000 households.

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Created on Nov 12th 2018 21:58. Viewed 396 times.

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