permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

BBC NEWS | England | Dung power station fires up
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2135431.stm>
         Thursday, 18 July, 2002, 08:01 GMT 09:01 UK
Dung power station fires up
The dung-fired power station at Holsworthy, Devon
The new power station will use 146,000 tonnes of slurry
The UK's first dung-fired power station began production of electricity on 
Thursday.

The pioneering £7m plant at Holsworthy in Devon will process 146,000 tonnes 
of slurry from 30 local farms every year.
Methane gas from the fermented slurry will power the plant, Holsworthy 
Biogas, to produce electricity for the national grid.
The process will also provide hot water for low-cost heating around 
Holsworthy, and organic manure for farmers to use on their land.
'Very safe'
The German company behind the plant, Farmatic UK, is hoping it could be the first of a 
network of "green" energy plants in the UK.
Managing director of Farmatic and the man behind the new plant, Jorgen Fink, from Denmark, said that it would take up to two months for the 
operation to reach full capacity.
It is a good thing for farmers and the countryside
Farmer Nigel Firs
He said: "We are commissioning the gas engine and testing it at full capacity 
today, and electricity is going to be produced.
"I would say that the plant in Devon can actually produce enough energy to 
cover the whole of Holsworthy.
"We are planning to start power production and sell to the National grid now."
He added: "What we are doing is very safe and a lot of people have shown an interest in the UK but they are waiting to see this one up and 
running first.
Pasteurised process
"We hope to build at least 100 farms in the UK."
The processed material which eventually leaves the plant is safe for farmers to spread on their fields because it goes through a 
pasteurisation process to remove the risk of disease.
Charles Clarke
Charles Clarke: "No smell"
Charles Clarke, owner of the plant, said local residents had nothing to fear 
about smells.
"There was some worry about the smell but the process we use takes it out," 
he said.
"I don't think people realise that we have already started production because 
there is no smell."
Nigel Furrs is one of 30 farmers who will be providing slurry to the new 
power station.
He told the BBC News 24: "I'm quite looking forward to it.
"The PH levels in the bio-fertiliser we will be getting are a lot better than what we normally use so this should be a good thing for 
farmers and the countryside."
Dung-fuelled power stations are popular in Germany and Denmark, with each 
operating about 20 large-scale plants.

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Kangaroos offer clue to global warming
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2023371.stm>
Monday, 3 June, 2002, 15:25 GMT 16:25 UK
Kangaroos offer clue to global warming
Kangaroos stomachs contain different bacteria
By Richard Black
BBC science correspondent
Scientists in Australia are investigating whether kangaroos could help combat 
global warming.
Australia's sheep and cattle produce huge amounts of methane, an important 
greenhouse gas - but kangaroos do not.
Researchers believe it might be possible to use bacteria found in the 
stomachs of kangaroos to reduce methane output from cows and sheep.
Methane emissions from farm animals account for about 15% of Australia's 
greenhouse gas production.
Yet kangaroos, feeding on the same sorts of grass, produce no methane at all.
Mystery bacteria
It is all down to the bacteria in their stomachs which help process the food 
they eat.
Sheep
Farm animals make 15% of Australia's greenhouse gases
The stomach is basically a big fermentation tank, with lots of hydrogen in the frothy mix; sheep and cattle bacteria turn that hydrogen into 
methane, whereas kangaroo bacteria do something else with it.
Precisely what that something else is is still something of a mystery, but researchers in Queensland have isolated about 40 types of 
bacteria from kangaroo stomachs and are finding out how they work.
Then they can try putting them inside cattle and sheep, to replace the 
methane-producing bacteria.
As well as being more climate-friendly, the kangaroo bacteria could be good 
news for farmers too by raising yields of wool, milk and meat.
Kangaroo bacteria have evolved over millions of years to process Australian grasses, and so should be more efficient at it than sheep and 
cattle bacteria, which arrived from Europe during the last two centuries.