Ok, this idea is a little grody, but I think it has merit as an applicable technology for dairy farmers and cattle ranchers. I’m talking about methane collection systems for livestock.

Whether we like it or not, cattle nowadays are pretty much an automated species, it shouldn’t be that hard to get them used to wearing saddle bags, which would house a flatulence activated vacuum apparatus, these would then collect the lighter than air gas through a nozzle attached to the base of the cows tail. The electricity needed to run these devices could be provided for by harnessing each animal’s movements while walking.

The number of uses for methane gas on a farm, (or anywhere for that matter), are staggering, and this would go a long way toward minimizing the excess greenhouse gas emissions created by livestock ranching. It would also be a cost effective addition to the industry, because the animals would literally be heating and lighting their own barns in the winter, producing the electricity to run their own milking machines, and perhaps, even enough power to supply the electrical needs of the ranchers own home throughout the year.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 03 2002

CH4 Backyard Methane http://www.backyardmethane.com/
This guy is trying to be a whole baker [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Methane emisions from livestock http://www.ciesin.org/TG/AG/liverear.html
you know cow farts [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Holy Cow! http://www.dailymai...-windows-sides.html
Literally... [RayfordSteele, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 18 2015]

Quite Baked http://www.pulsepla...ive/Apr01/2389.html
Methane and manure captured and burnt in an eco-friendly containment system. Can we all go home now? [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Hahahaha http://imgur.com/gallery/KfS7nJv
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 18 2015]

thought this said "poorer cows"

I was always led to believe that grass-munching herbivores did not smell anything like as bad as carnivores <looking oddly at 2fries as she speaks>
-- po, Nov 03 2002


Actually po, I can assure you, 300,000 head of dairy cattle emit quite a stench. Where I grew from a mere stubwax into the mighty thumbwax - is now the USA's #1 Agricultural producer - chief among those hundreds of crops/commodities is milk - (2001 saw the county of Tulare reach 1.15 billion dollars of dairy production - through the grapevine, local yokels claim this to be the first time *anywhere* the billion dollar figure has been attained for any commodity in a single year).
-- thumbwax, Nov 03 2002


It is my understanding that livestock pretty well heat their own quarters with body heat, and also that the majority of the methane is emitted from the front end, as belches.

A system for extracting methane from the barn exhaust ventilation might be workable.
-- FarmerJohn, Nov 03 2002


imagine the stench from 300,000 british men after a night of beer and curry. sorry, good doctor.
-- po, Nov 03 2002


So that's where all the fog comes from, eh?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 03 2002


I like the name power cows.
-- Gulherme, Nov 03 2002


//bulgy bear// Good link, It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that someone is seriously thinking of utilizing this resource. Although it does not bake this idea, they want to extract the methane indirectly from the manure piles, and not from the animals as they produce it.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Nov 04 2002


This has been Baked for twenty years (I recall a Tomorrow's World segment on it from way back when). (Link to a current version for the egnostics.)
-- DrCurry, Nov 04 2002


Ah, but that is produced from the shit of the cows.
This [link] is what I'm talking about.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 18 2015



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