The Business of Biogas

A reader asks:

I would like to know the basics involved in biogas production from cow dung and food wastes.  In particular, I would like to have your view on how realistic it is to make a business out of it in small scale. Thank you.

I’m quite sure that there is nothing you or anyone else can do on a small scale in this space.  I live in California, a state with 5.15 million cows, and one that leads the way in terms of doing the right thing environmentally.  Even we still haven’t figured out how to make this work—at any scale.

Eventually, there will come a limit on the amount of cow (and pig, chicken, and turkey) dung and its toxicity we’ll put up with.  But, even though there are horrible human health problems all over the world with respect to this problem, the meat lobby has, so fat at least, effectively fought off the environmentalists.

I wish I could help you, but I can’t.