Biogas and energy production from cattle waste

Biomass is one of the longest used energy sources employed in human activity. The bioconversion of organic matter to biogas is a complex anaerobic fermentation process involving the action of microorganisms such as methane producing bacteria. In this paper, biogas and energy production from cattle waste is investigated. There are two significant reasons that motivate this study. First, treating animal waste with the technology of anaerobic digestion can reduce environmental pollution and generate a relatively cheap and readily available source of energy in dairy farms. The gas produced can be used for space and water heating of farm houses, cooking, lighting, grain drying and as a fuel for heating greenhouses during cold weather. It also has the potential to run other small industries. Second, it is an effective way of managing cattle waste as well as producing a quick acting, nontoxic fertilizer for agricultural use. A working model of a biogas plant is studied in this paper and its economic value as an alternative energy source is examined. An alternative to direct generation of electricity, is to convert the methane from the biomass to methanol. Methanol is an excellent fuel for internal combustion engines and can easily compete with gasoline in many nations where gasoline costs over $4 per US gallon