05/24/07 Cow energy

Ethanol is a big story these days. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back to tell you one of the better ethanol stories. For quite a few years people have been talking about meeting some of our energy needs from American soil and American agriculture by producing ethanol. The main problem with ethanol production so far has been the amount of fossil fuel energy needed to produce ethanol. The energy source needed to produce ethanol in a new closed-loop plant near Mead, Nebraska is supplied by cow manure. The term closed-loop defines the process since cattle manure powers the ethanol plant which in turn produces an ethanol high-protein by-product, wet distillers grain that is fed back to the feedlot cattle. This 75 million plus facility uses two four million gallon anaerobic digestion tanks to decompose 228,000 tons of annual manure from its 30,000 head cattle feedlot. This process produces methane gas that generates steam, which powers the ethanol producing plant. A by-product of the anaerobic digestion is high-quality fertilizer. This plant produces ethanol at a cost of production that is 20 to 30 percent less than plants using fossil fuel to power the process. If this closed-loop facility can show a profit it may be the standard for future plants and actually prove America can become a little more energy independent using predominately renewable resources. I'm Jeff Keane. Progressive Farmer Ma