Everything Poops!
It may not be pleasant to think about, but there it is.
Most things that Poop have Micro-Flora and -Fauna, in their Gut, that generate Methane.
The city and county, in recent years, have been fined for venting Methane to the atmosphere…from the landfill, at least. It is a certainty that the aging Sewer Plant Vents Methane, as well.
“Natural Gas” is a marketing term, invented by energy companies, decades ago, in order to sell Fossil Methane. Seems everyone knew , at the time, that Methane = Sewer Gas….and our aversion to the products of Bodily Functions meant that even the Fossil Gas was a hard sell.
Now , we are in an Energy Crisis. Light Sweet Crude Oil is hard to find, the “low hanging fruit” having been extracted, long ago. This is the reason for the mad scramble for “alternatives”…such as Oil Sands, Tar Sands, Deep Water Drilling, etc. All of these, and more, have what is called a Negative EROEI (energy return on energy invested); it costs more energy to extract and make useable these resources, than is contained in the resources, themselves. Enormous amounts of Fresh Water, and a whole lot of “Natural Gas”(the Fossil Kind) are also required to Process these resources into a useable form.
It is, in short, Folly…and an act of desperation.
Fossil Fuels are Finite….there is only so much of them there…and the world has used them wantonly.
Nothing, really, can replace Oil, barrel for barrel. It is energy dense, and transportable. “Natural Gas” is neither. It is expensive and dangerous to transport it…and at the earliest opportunity (a pinhole leak), it escapes to the atmosphere…where it is a remarkably efficient Greenhouse Gas.
A viable alternative to at least some of these problems is sewer gas….Methane. The Landfill, the Feedlots (that are, luckily, right next door) and the Sewer Plant. All that is needed is to Capture that Methane, run it through a glorified Charcoal Filter, and Viola! Energy for Mason!
Currently, our Electricity comes from far away…through Power Lines…
Power Lines “Lose” around 40% of what’s Generated, in Transmission. That Electricity is simply “vented”…much like our Methane…in the form of an Electromagnetic Field.
What a Boon for Mason, if we could actually use the Waste we Generate to heat and cool our homes…and to run our gadgets. It is worth looking into, since our Elected Officials are contemplating a Major Overhaul to the current infrastructure.
I urge you all to educate yourselves on this matter….and to then tell your Council-People and Commissioners about it.
I have sent this to Mayor Brent, along with a smattering of links…which Gerry can print if he wants to.
Thank You, Josef
http://www.pewclimate.org/technology/factsheet/anaerobic-digesters
http://www.habmigern2003.info/biogas/methane-digester.html
http://www.mrec.org/pubs/Anaerobic_Report.pdf
http://www.eisenmann.us.com/biogas-gw.php?gclid=CLPwuuiqs6sCFcWd7QodLSpexg
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