Oil prices spur interest in manure as fuel

Texas firm plans plant to make ethanol out of cow dung

LUBBOCK, Texas – As oil prices soar, cow manure is getting more attention as an alternative fuel source, particularly in Texas, the country’s biggest producer of cow patties.

For years, researchers have studied manure as a fertilizer. But at a time when state and federal energy bills have called for increasing renewable energy sources, there is more focus on developing cow dung as an alternative to coal or natural gas.
“I see it as a valuable tool in our tool box,” said John Sweeten, resident director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Amarillo. “Sixty-dollar-a-barrel oil recruits a lot of interest in biomass. At $10-a-barrel oil, there’s not much interest.”

The Panda Group of Dallas plans to fuel a $120 million ethanol plant set to open next year in Hereford with cow manure and other waste. The company said it will realize an energy savings equivalent to 1,000 barrels of oil per day turning manure and cotton gin waste into clean-burning fuel to power the plant.

AP