Manure is regarded to be the best natural fertilizer for farms, but the ones from horses may have more purpose apart from enriching one's harvests, with a new study claiming that it can be transformed into power. As the world is looking for more alternatives to clean energy, the widely available resources and 'call of nature' are regarded to be the best there is for creating electricity and heat.
Additionally, horses' poop is regarded to be the higher quality manure there is, now considered by researchers to be more than waste.
Horse Manure Can Help Generate Quality, Renewable Power
Soledad Lorieto via Unsplash
A new report from Interesting Engineering detailed how new research has taken advantage of horse manure to use in generating quality power, a resource that is available naturally and is a byproduct that is usually discarded. While horse farms usually use their trusty steed's excretions as manure or additional products for compost, studies found that these are also effective in creating power.
Electricity and heat are two byproducts of horses, according to the report. Before, traditional methods focused on drying manure and later using it as fuel for fires, usually for turning water into steam, used mostly in turbines. However. there are now better methods that do not involve burning poop.
There is a previous demonstration from Fortum, a Finnish company, that used wood from horse bedding and their fecal matter to generate heat for a power plant, capable of generating 140 MWh of energy. According to the report, this power was used for the Helsinki International Horse Show or 6,500 homes.
That being said, this requires adequate facilities to be near horse farms.
Horses were also regarded to be better than other animal's wastes to generate power, as first and foremost, these mammals are capable of producing 60 lbs. of poop per day, better than a dairy cow. Moreover, it was regarded that horses get higher quality feed which is rich in nutrients and drier, with better potential for energy production.
Other processes for horse manure include anaerobic digestion where their defecation is put in large containers and introduced certain microorganisms that convert it into methane gas and can be used for power plants that create electricity.
Renewable Energy and Net-Zero Emissions
The hunt for renewable energy and leaving behind fossil fuel reliance has been a massive focus in the world, with new developments in the likes of wind turbines also considering protecting marine life in the process.
However, achieving net-zero emissions is still a challenge for the world. In a recent study, global fossil fuel consumption reached an all-time high despite the presence of alternative energy sources and clean energy development.
The time is now for all kinds of studies to help in achieving renewable energy and net-zero emissions, including what was once thought of as waste or only as fertilizers, with horses now considered to be ideal energy sources of electricity and heat.
