Jan 24 - Livestock Gas Fuels Hope for Ethanol
A win-win siutation may be on hand as one Nebraska cattle ranch lassos in methane to fuel a plant producing the up-and-coming biofuel ethanol. Ethanol, the corn industry's answer to the country's oil and greenhouse gas crises, is normally dependent on heavily-criticized amounts of fossil fuels in its production. From Nate Jenkins of the Pueblo Chieftain:
MEAD, Neb. - Ranchers have long been fond of saying cattle manure smells like money.
Now, folks in the business of making ethanol are smelling dollars too - in the methane gas emitted by manure at large cattle feedlots and dairies.
Across the country, ethanol plants powered by methane instead of costly natural gas or coal are on the drawing board - a movement that could be a win-win situation for the environment and the industry.
What You Can Do:
- Prepare for the new legislative session by reading about our priorities to reduce greenhouse gas.
- Explore how the livestock industry impacts our environment in our dairy issues page.
- See the big picture by learning more about greenhouse gas.