Cow gang in the morning

The article mentioned in part one, suggests you not eat meat in an attempt to reduce the greenhouse gas (methane) caused by cows.  I propose that human emissions of methane could eclipse that of the cows raised for meat if we follow that advice and limit our intake to non-meat food.

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Cows and wind turbines

I came across an interesting article on combating global warming.  Aside from a picture of a cow with a gas-mask device to capture cow belches, another picture (see after the jump) shows another methane capture device.  Intended to capture cow farts, I can just feel sorry for the cow.  That hose feeding the pink plastic methane storage balloon has to be uncomfortable for the cow.

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A team of scientists led by Dr. Bruce Logan of Penn State University are seriously engaged in using a microbe that could provide a solution for most of our environmental woes. A single arrow that shoots down two major eco-problems, this new species of bacteria known as Methanobacterium palustre apparently has the potential to turn CO2 into CH4. That means that you could soon store the carbon emissions of the world in a giant container and transform them into Methane— which is then used to generate energy.

Demonstration of a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

As incredulous as it sounds, the new process is based on the already known (and used) technique of water electrolysis, which converts water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). In a similar fashion, the new method dubbed electromethanogensis will create methane out of carbon dioxide by using microbes.

While the process is still getting shape, many believe that bio-energy of this kind is just not economically and practically feasible. but we think that the magic of genetic engineering, biotechnology and nanotechnology could combine to change the perception for the next half of the century.

What will a large scale MFC system of the future look like?

For now, microbe-powered CO2 fuel cell canisters are still some way away. [Green Car Congress via Ecogeek]

If only we could harness the Martian methane belch…

There was a surprising and mysterious belch of methane gas on Mars NASA says. NASA thinks there might be microbial life underground, but admitted the gas could come from changes in rocks. Methane gas on earth is by far mostly a byproduct of life — animal digestion and decaying plants and animals.

This is the first study to find regular methane on Mars. Some 21,000 tons of methane were released during a few months in late summer of 2003. Hmm…I wonder, could we run a pipe from Mars to Earth? Nah. Doesn’t seem likely, does it?

“This raises the probability substantially that life was there or still survives at the present,” says the study author at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

By 2006, most of the methane had disappeared…adding to the mystery of the gas.

A similar phenomenon to the Mars belch happens in the waters near Santa Barbara, Calif. There the gas comes from decaying life in the sea floor. Even microbes in the Arctic and other extreme Earth environments release methane even they don’t use O2.

Methane is not only a waste product of life, it is also food for other life. NASA doesn’t know where the methane came from but they’d sure like to have it appear again. What do you think about the possibility of life in space?

Pretty odd I must say, but a recent study revealed that if Australia is going to farm kangaroos instead of cattle and sheep (to remove 36 million sheep and 7 million cattle by 2020), that could lower the overall greenhouse gases by 3 percent each year. Do you think it’s that simple?

First of all, Australians won’t understand that killing kangaroos for food is good for the environment. It’s more like a matter of taste than a matter of global warming, and my bet is people are not yet prepared to switch to an all-kangaroo diet. Would you eat kangaroo meat just because they produce negligible amounts of methane?

The other problem, which is just as big is the kangaroo-image, over Austsalian peopl. Changing the way people think is not going to be done overnight and certainly not just with ad campaigns because the kangaroo is actually, the national icon.

The study which revealed all these said that “using kangaroos to produce low-emission meat is an option for the Australian rangelands … and could even have global application,” said the study. Do you agree?

Image courtesy of t3rmin4t0r