Project Description

The livestock industry creates millions of tons of manure annually. This manure can be composted and processed to create useful fertilizer. Another potential use for manure is to produce methane gas, which can be used in many of the same places that we use propane and natural gas. Anaerobic bacteria creates methane as a byproduct of the digestion of manure, and the leftover organic matter makes excellent fertilizer.

To demonstrate the production of methane from manure, I built a small digester. Using information gathered from Web sites in my resources section, I was able to successfully design and build a digester and produce methane from manure in about two weeks.