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Money might not grow on trees but it can come from unexpected places. You may be shocked by the manure mansion on G Word, but in today's economy, there's a new black gold.
Dairy farmers are taking one of the environment's biggest and smelliest pollutants - cow poop - and they're turning it into sustainable, eco-friendly energy.
Jokingly called "moo power," this energy is created when cow droppings are dumped into specialized machines like an anaerobic digester, which captures the methane released from the bacteria on the manure. The methane is then sold to local utility companies, who use it to power their generators.
The manure from 1,300 cows produces enough methane to power 330 houses. Given that there are about 40 million cows in the United States, there is obviously reason to become excited about this planet-friendly prospect.
Unfortunately, the financial investment, about two million dollars upfront, is prohibitive to many owners of cow herds, though statistics suggest that the machinery pays for itself in approximately six years. Considering the fact that a dairy farmer will never run out of free raw materials, the renewable energy business is an extremely lucrative and eco-friendly one to enter.
However, the benefits are much more than just financial. The manure smell is reduced by about 95%, and other uses are continuing to be developed for the usage of methane. Best of all, the possibility of obliterating one of the worst air and water polluters by making it into energy is a fantastic move forward for the environment.
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