Cash Cows

I'm pretty much just copying this post from an EPA Enewsletter for lack of time today. It's an interesting topic and one way to clean up the dirty agriculture industry.

EPA and its partners have released guidance that can help farmers manage livestock waste and boost farm earnings while reducing greenhouse gases. Processing livestock manure under controlled conditions can produce biogas, a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers also benefit because the biogas can be used to generate electricity.

"Using biogas has multiple benefits; it decreases greenhouse gas emissions, produces renewable energy for rural communities, and safeguards local air and water quality," said Bill Wehrum, EPA's acting assistant administrator of Air and Radiation. "This guidance will help farmers and potential investors make informed choices about which systems work best for farms, for profits, and for our environment."

Biogas is made up of methane and carbon dioxide. Because methane is more than 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, capturing biogas provides significant environmental benefits. Also, farmers and project developers can increase their incomes by using biogas for on-site electricity generation or delivery to a local electric utility.

Waste methane recovery systems, also known as anaerobic digestion systems, are estimated to be feasible at about 7,000 dairy and swine operations in the United States. In 2005, about 110 systems were operational or under construction, and another 80 were in the planning stages.

The standardized guidance was developed jointly by EPA's AgStar program, the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions, and USDA. The guidance will provide a standardized method that will allow farm operators and investors to compare the effectiveness of available waste methane recovery systems.

AgStar is a voluntary program that encourages the use of waste methane recovery systems on dairy and swine farms. Each year, these systems have reduced methane by about 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, while providing enough renewable energy to power over 20,000 average American homes. The program also assists countries throughout the world in developing biogas recovery projects through the Methane to Markets Partnership.

Information on the AgStar Protocol: http://www.epa.gov/agstar/resources/protocol.html General information on Methane to Markets Partnership: http://www.epa.gov/methanetomarkets

Challenge - Truckless

Today is my last day with Pinky, Barbie Truck, Pink Panther; my 1984 "raspberry" Chevy S-10, 4-cylinder, bare bones, manual, no tape or CD, regular cab, short box, truck. We've decided to attempt to get by with 1 vehicle for a few months and see how it goes.

Honestly, it's more about economics that ecologics right now, and the main reason we can pull it off is that my wife will be able to simply walk next door for work starting Monday. Nevertheless, a reduction of dependence on personal vehicles is one of the holy grails of treehugging. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Trucks and Treehugging don't go hand in hand very well - or do they? This idea has really been bothering me for quite a while. The organic or natural lifestyle encourages composting, mulching, gardening, reusing spent materials, fixing things instead of throwing them away, etc. My little pickemup is just perfect for all of that. Last year I made many trips to the municipal compost site for the free biosolids (yep: crap), composted mulch, and lime. I made many trips to the lumber store to build a play set (used composite decking with recycled plastic), and made bunches of trips to nurseries for plants and topsoil. How will I do that with 1 family sedan between us?

You might say, "Buy a hybrid or electric." OK, I say, find me a truck. Other than a few used prototypes or fleet pickups one can find laying around (usually they need new battery packs $$$), the only pickup I know of is the GM Full-size made right here in Fort Wayne. The problem? Well, the cost ($30,000 base) is the first problem. The second problem is the mileage is only improved by 2 mpg city driving. So we're talking peanuts. I could go with an E85 - equipped Silverado for around $20,000. Then the problem becomes making sure I always have enough gas to make it to the few (but growing) stations that carry it.

So making trucks more efficient, hence environmentally friendly, is one of the big challenges I see in making treehugging more practical.

Virgin Biofuels?

It must be too warm on Richard Branson's private Caribbean island, because he just signed an agreement with Former President Clinton to invest $3 Billion (with a B) in Biofuels.

I think it's great!