Degassing Cow Poo

Source: abc.net.au

A mining company has turned it sights to making a profit from cow effluent. Gekko Systems designed and built a biodigester on a dairy farm. Collaboration with a pig farm, the mining company developed the biodigester. The mining company wanted to diversify away from the mining business due to the ups and downs of the mining industry.

Mr. Trigg's robotic dairy farm cows produce 24,000 liters of effluent a day. Up to now they waste has been a detriment in many ways. The smell alone was a problems but to evacuate the waste was another problem. Mr. Trigg decided to give the biodigester a shot.

Source: abc.net.au

The biodigester works by mimicking an animal's stomach, but instead of completing the digestion in a few hours like an animal, the biodigester takes 25 days. Using a longer digestion time allows the biodigester to more completely break down the waste. The methane gas given off is collected and is used to generate electricity. The resulting waste is transformed into a odorless fertilizer.

Source: abc.net.au