Abstract
Energy consumption in this nation over the past 100 years has been closely tied to non-renewable fuel sources. However, in the past 10 to 15 years, a number of energy planners have suggested that our future energy needs should be met by increasing our dependence on renewable energy sources. One such renewable energy source is livestock waste. Most of the research involving the utilization of livestock waste has been concentrated in the field of anaerobic digestion to produce methane gas (1). However, the purpose of this paper is to examine a new commercial use of animal waste with a process which utilizes direct combustion. The direct combustion of animal waste as an energy source has a lengthy history in the United States. Plains Indians burned "buffalo chips" and Depression era farmers resorted to dried cow manure as a fuel source (2). However, these examples of direct combustion of animal waste relate to small-scale usage of this renewable resource. As recently as 1981, energy experts still believed that direct combustion of livestock waste was not a promising commercial alternative (3). However, extensive research by agricultural engineers at Texas A&M University has provided new insight into the field of utilizing cattle manure in a direct combustion process. In 1982-83, experiments conducted in a pilot plant established the feasibility of burning livestock waste directly to generate heat for the production of electricity (4).
Recommended Citation
Augustin, Byron and Bockenhauer, Mark
(1987)
"Electric Power Generation from the Direct Combustion of Feedlot Waste,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 29:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol29/iss1/2