The Math of Methane

Hurry – there’s an emergency!  Wisconsin’s dairy farmers are turning green!  Okay, it’s not really an emergency, but it is really good news!

Lots of farmers these days are “going green” by turning cow poop into power!  You’re probably wondering how that works, right?  Well, they use a manure digester to convert the poop into energy that can be used both on the farm and in the local community.  A manure digester is a big, air-tight tank where heat and bacteria produce a natural biogas called methane.  After the biogas is collected from the top of the digester, it’s used to power an engine that turns a generator that produces electricity. 

A typical digester on a Wisconsin dairy farm produces enough renewable energy to power 224 average-sized homes.  And you’d only need poop from five cows to produce enough renewable energy for one home! So just imagine how much renewable energy all of Wisconsin’s 1,252,000 dairy cows could produce! 

But that’s not the only thing cow poop is being used for.  It’s also recycled into two other products farmers can use.  After the biogas is collected and turned into electricity, the solids in the digester are separated and used as a clean, sterile, soft bedding for cows. The solids also can be used as a natural organic fertilizer to grow plants and vegetables. The liquid that's left over contains valuable nutrients and is returned to farm fields to grow crops for the next season!

To learn more about “cow power” and how it’s helping Wisconsin’s farmers and our environment, check out these two sites!
Dairy Farming Today Vitual Tour

focus on energy Renwable Biogas