What A Gas

Bits and Pieces: A small power plant currently under construction at Tinedale Farms in northwestern Wisconsin will be fueled entirely by the waste of 1,800 grazing cows.

June/July 2001
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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Cows, with their four-chambered stomachs and thorough chewing, have always been models of digestive proficiency, as anyone who's dodged cow pies in a pasture can attest. Now, the byproduct of all that chewing may be a step toward solving the energy crisis.

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A small power plant currently under construction at Tinedale Farms in northwestern Wisconsin will be fueled entirely by the waste of 1,800 grazing bovines. The plant, a joint project of Wisconsin Energy and Ag Environmental Solutions, LLC, will run off fuel converted from methane biogas, generated during the decomposition of manure. Thus, the plant will utilize an abundant, renewable fuel while providing a solution for the excess release of methane gas, a watershed contaminant and greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

The plant is expected to generate approximately 750 kilowatts of energy, enough to power up to 300 homes. But in order for methane to become a competitive source of renewable energy, the price needs to come down. Carl Theunis, one of three partners of Ag Environmental Solutions, believes their effort will pay off financially in three to five years. But with relative energy prices skyrocketing, that turnaround time may even be shorter than expected.

-Kirsten Monahan

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