Manure Energy

bundle of energy

Renewable energy is the way forward if the world is going to survive, We can try and predict the future but to be honest nobody knows what kind of stage our planet is coming to in its life, We can blame this and that but the truth is it might have happened anyway – probably not, but we never know, the only thing we can try and do is reverse the mess we think we caused, we have been polluting the air in a massive for around 300 years now and if what we are being told is correct then the planet has had enough. There is many renewable energy sources being touted around now that governments are taking action and one of them is Manure. What a great way to recycle. Just one of the places to take this up is a farm in the Green Valley Dairy in Krakow, Wisconsin, USA, It generates around 4 million kilowatts hours, of energy a year and is enough to power up to 400 homes for a full year with green electricity, by collecting manure from 2500 cattle, This helps everyone out and more and more farmers are taking up the idea as the energy prices continue to rise while the costs of generating renewable energy continue to fall – in return the they are cutting Co2 emissions, making money and cutting costs at the same time, No brainer.

Biofuel has long been claimed as the answer to rising oil and gas prices, the ultimate in ‘clean and green energy’. As if to emphasise this further, a group of enthusiasts are currently en route to the cradle of Western Civilisation using only waste oil and cooking fat obtained from Chip Shops along the way. An impressive feat, im sure you’ll agree, anything that reduces relaibilty on fossil fuelled power has to be a good thing right?

Biofuels – The Debate

Biofuels were originally thought preferable to fossil fuels as the carbon released when burned was balanced by the carbon absorbed when plants grew. However, this is now seen as an overly simplistic view as turning plants into fuels causes its own emissions (i.e. refining and transportation). Recent studies have found that the production of Biofuels causes more greenhouse gas emissions than tradional fossil fuels.

Clearing land for Biofuel Crops

The problem essentially eminates from the amount of land that has to be cleared in order to produce the crop – increasing demand for biofuel crops has led to an increase in Vegetable Oil Prices, as a result more new land is being cleared, particularly in developing countries desperate to cash in on the Biofuel trend. Crops from old plantations head to Europe for biofuels, while new fields are cleared to feed people at home.

There are already calls in the UK for the government to end subsidies for Biofuel production, and investors are becoming very wary of the sector. Is this the beginning of the end for biofuel?, is it to become a casualty of the green energy wars?…….interesting times ahead.

Sugar Cane - Biofuel producing crop