Liaoning farm harnesses cow pat power

A Chinese dairy farm based in Liaoning province, northeast China, is installing the world’s largest system to turn cow pats into electricity.

According to Technology Review, the device at the Huishan Dairy is 10 times bigger than similar systems and operates with 60,000 cows to capture methane from the fermenting manure. It generates almost 6 megawatts of electricity.

Ann Wilkie, professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Florida, said, "It shows this is not a phantom technology we have to wait for in the future. It’s something we can do now to deal with existing waste, and garner renewable energy."

Huishan’s new system not only creates electricity; it will prevent methane, which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, from reaching the atmosphere.

According to Country News, China estimates that millions of small farms already have such manure digesters in rudimentary form.