Free Fuel Justification

I was asked why I was advocating Biogas or methane as a renewable fuel source. I have  been thinking about this  method of  creating fuel for so long I lost  sight of the fact  that to many people  this is not  an obvious  source of energy and  it certainly is not  a viable option for people living in a near urban  location. However it is a viable option for homestead farms and other homes out in the country. This is especially true for those making a concerted attempt to live off grid.

Something I took for granted was the fact I was thinking of a system intended for a residence where energy conservation was being practiced.

Detractors of alternative energy schemes often use the argument   that none of these schemes will equal fossil fuels in quantity of energy provided at present rates of use.

This is true, but let’s stops for a moment to ask if the present rate of consumption per capita is justified or sensible.

Energy conservation is not about doing more with less. It is about doing the same with less

Everyone recognizes that fuel cost will escalate no matter what.  At some point a substantial portion of the population will not be able to afford fuel in the required amount. At that point they will have to cut back and their quality of life style will degrade. 

People who choose to live off grid have the option of switching to alternatives sooner. Many rural homes are heated with wood.  Unfortunately, replacement and renewal will take longer due to how fast a tree grows.

In other parts of the world biogas is already used and has been for decades.  Biogas is the natural result of decomposition. We find it in swamps land fill sites and on farms with manure piles. 

Land fill sites spend an enormous amount of money to capture and safely vent the biogas to prevent an out of control fire. Smart operators have used this biogas to fuel generators and thus making them energy independent. Some of the larger land fill sites generate enough electrical energy to enable them to sell back surplus power to the utility grid.

Although using animal manure and waste plant material has been known and used elsewhere this technique is largely unknown in North America.  As long as people eat meat and dairy products we will have farm operations to raise these animals for food. There is a continuing supply of animal manure not to mention sewage waste from ourselves. If we considered manure as a resource for biogas it would be considered a renewable resource.  The advocates for oil will argue that this will never supply as much energy as what we now get from oil.  That is also true but oil is really only necessary for mobile vehicles. Nearly all stationary power users can use natural gas or biogas.  Almost all new house construction now uses natural gas for heating. Many of the power generating stations use natural gas instead of coal because it burns cleaner than coal.  In locations where natural is not yet piped in, propane is often used as a substitute.    

Homes located in areas where they keep livestock can set themselves up to produce biogas (methane) from the manure produced by the livestock.  This activity neatly dovetails with another growing trend.  People are increasingly becoming concerned with food  animal factories.  There is concern about the growth hormones used to speed up fattening the animals for slaughter and the use of  antibiotics needed to  keep these animals alive until they are slaughtered and  activist groups are  also concerned  about the inhumane treatment  found in most of these  factories. 

A parallel  movement  to eat only locally produced  foods  is also  motivating   the  continuance  of local farm raised  food instead of  meat produced in a factory  half a continent  away.  The movement is prevalent enough  a descriptive word  is coined. Locavores refer to people  who only buy and eat food produced locally.

Here is an example of a large scale  methane digester intended to produce  natural gas in  industrial  quantities.

 http://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/application_status/Docs/50827sr.pdf

This digester is expected to come  on stream sometime in 2011.

Although this is a  large scale  installation,   the process is scalable  for a small  installation suited to a single family dwelling.

My enthusiasm for this derives from the fact  the feed stock is renewable  and  at present  poses a disposable waste challenge. The solid remnant can still be used as fertilizer for farm fields but without the odour. 

Unless we make sure  we use the most effective means of converting wood into heat energy  we  may use up the available supply faster than it can be replace. Such is the case in some parts of the world where the whole landscape has been denuded of trees by centuries of fuel gathering.  The Bible speaks of giant cedars from Lebanon used to build Solomon’s temple. Yet today Lebanon is practically treeless.  Many portions of Europe are now so devoid of forest that cutting a tree for firewood is forbidden.