Where are the new technologies?
Why aren't the people running for office having research done on all of the technologies that could help with the fuel problem? I found one that would be golden in NC, especially in the eastern part of the state. According to an article at "The Pigsite", Dr. Yuanhui Zhang, an agricultural and biological engineer has developed a process to change swine manure (pig poop) into oil and gas.
Think what that would mean in NC, the second largest producer of swine in the US. According to a 1999 press release from the Environmental Defense Fund, NC produced 19,000,000 TONS of hog waste annually. Dr. Zhang's process has produced a 70% conversion rate. That means it could produce 13,300,000 tons of oil annually. Converting that to barrels of oil at the rate of approximately 8 barrels per ton, we could produce 104,000,000 barrels of oil.
The best part of this for NC would be the new jobs and increased tax base in the eastern part of the state, where most hog farms are located. Just the prospect of there not being any new hog lagoons would secure votes for any one who proposed it. But all any one running for office in this state wants to talk about is drilling of the coast. That isn't renewable, this is. Once you pump all the oil out, what then?
- Gunsq's blog
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Great points!
But why settle for Pig Poo Power when Big Energy can make many more boatloads of money raping the coast?
Actually, Bev Perdue's legislation idea is
now funding a hog waste to energy company, among other "green" industries. From the N&O ...
That's not a ton of money, but it's a good start.
"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." - Harry Truman
Why we haven't heard about it
here in Charlotte. It would appeal to the east more. But electric generation is not the problem. Over 66% of all oil is used for transportation. Even if the product only reaches diesel grade transportation fuel, think of the position it would place NC. And we are the largest producer of turkeys (not intending a slam against current political leaders). I'm sure the process couldn't be much different. We need people who can think outside the box.
Win win
Because methane is 25 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas the ability to squeeze some energy out of landfill gas has the ability to displace other carbon sources like oil and coal and mitigate global warming directly and indirectly.