Cow poop

The vast majority of my time at work everyday is spent thinking about, researching, and looking for manure around France. Its weird.

I've always been the kind of person who wants to do good things for the planet (eat organic, recycle, ride my bike instead of car, etc.) but leans towards the cheaper/easier solutions for my daily routine. I don't lack the conviction, just the willpower to implement my good intentions.

Working in renewable energy has now opened my eyes to a whole new way to save the planet. Its so fascinating and very satisfying to see a possible bright spot in the currently doomed future of energy/fossil fuels.

More specifically, I work for a company investing in methane gas plants. These are basically giant controlled compost heaps in enclosed digestors. The lack of oxygen plus all the crap (literally!) that you throw in there produces really powerful biogas which is made up of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The methane you can feed right into natural gas lines and it has even more burning power than natural gas. The bi-products of carbon dioxide and nitrogen are negligible, and the heat the factory produces can be used to produce electricity. Once the methane gas is burned for energy, the nitrogen that's emmited into the atmosphere is much less harmful to the ozone layer than if the methane was released naturally from cow patties. You also get real quality fertilizer that goes back to the farmer's who sold us their poop! Win-win!

Having grown up in the country and dealing with livestock (thanks Ophir 4-H), I am not put off by talking or thinking about animal waste. Its just amusing to me that I came all the way to glamourous Paree to get down and dirty on a farm.

Please check out this CNN article for a great summary of biogas and how awesome it is.