In a given year, any cow worth its four stomachs is going drop 40,000 pounds of feces, expelling 100 to 200 liters of harmful methane gas a day. Think about that. If it sounds like a terrifying amount of waste, it’s because it is.
Methane, in turn, hungrily chews away at the ozone layer, adding to the plethora of reasons why our planet will experience severe climate change in the coming years. This alarming factoid seems to have incurred the panicked search for a solution. However, with the smelly nature of the central focus, there’s not a very long line of people willing get knee-deep in the answers. With a clock firmly placed on humanity, one pungent question demands an answer:
What are we supposed to do with all this shit?
In an era plagued with cataclysmic environmental damage, Southern California dairy farmer Albert Straus saw methane gas as a solution to its own problem and has began to power his farm with it. What’s known as a “methane digester system” accumulates the harmful gas from twice-daily collection of his cows’ waste and keeps it from dissipating into the atmosphere by storing it in tarp-covered ponds. From here, the gas is piped into the system that powers his electric generator.
It sounds too perfect to be true, but Straus’ stats speak for themselves: not only is 90% of the farm’s electricity from the digester, but the dairy’s two electric cars and tractor trailer also run thanks to the power of methane.
“I believe… sustainability is the future,” he explained.
Ideally, a high cyclical system will emerge: cows will end up being fed from a truck that they have powered themselves. Not only is this a remarkable solution, but it has already been put into practice, avoiding the endless decades of tests and committee meetings that tend to hold up every other attempt at an answer. The key now is to spread the technology around.
However, as always, some roadblocks stand in the way.
According to Straus, the biggest challenge will be, “To keep the technology as simple as possible. People get overwhelmed about what it takes to keep it up, and what it costs. It’s the initial expense and society’s willingness to alleviate some of the costs. Once people see it can be profitable, people will incorporate it into their work.”
Albert’s environmentally conscious style has permeated the entire Straus Family Creamery. Glass bottles, recycled water, and even a “No till planting” system that can penetrate the soil without damaging it, have been put into use in order to keep the organic farm as green as possible.
All of this was enough to gain the attention of Prince Charles and his wife Camila, who stopped by in November of 2006 for a chat on sustainability. “He’s very knowledgeable, very cordial, very easy to talk to,” Straus says of their meeting.
Along with several other organic farmers, Straus was invited back to Prince Charles’ estate to observe his own work in sustainability. “It was pretty amazing. He’s been a very good spokesperson.”
As with every environmental solution, in the end, it all depends on other people, a nameless mass of humans living somewhere who have naught but a record of voluntary ignorance. Yet, Straus maintains hope:
“Consumers are more and more aware of environmental impacts. People are not only buying more organic, they realize its the future.”
With environmentally conscious people taking the lead, Straus and the rest of us can only hope that his example is followed. If there is to be a future, it will depend on our ability to creatively and purposefully solve the problems we have created for ourselves.
Farmers, business owners, corporations: This is how the damage is repaired. This is how things change. And, just like a cow fart, we can’t just keep holding our breath.
Article image courtesy of Dave Wild
