Cow Fartpacks

9 years ago

Backpacks For Cows Collect Their Fart Gas And Store It For Energy

Researchers put plastic backpacks on cows, then inserted tubes into their rumens (their biggest digestive tract). Then, they extracted the methane--about 300 liters a day. That's enough to run a car, or a fridge for 24 hours.

"[We] believe that such technology could be used to collect methane on larger scale, and even imagine a future farm with a couple of these cows used to provide energy to satisfy the farm's needs," Sorondo says.

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Tags: mad science, parts, poop

8 Responses:

1. Jonathan Ungar says:

   9 years ago at 12:50 pm

   Energy!

2. Line Noise says:

   9 years ago at 1:18 pm

   Sorry to . . . ahem . . . burst your bubble, but ruminants actually burp the methane, not fart it.

3. Bobby Dunn says:

   9 years ago at 1:23 pm

   OMG

4. DaveL says:

   9 years ago at 5:23 pm

   Does that mean the cows are saying "I've got a butt plug and it's not doing anyone any good"?

   They do not look too happy.

5. Caroline Bokman says:

   9 years ago at 8:56 pm

   http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Kk2KBsD6cg/URXcSG9WMLI/AAAAAAAAAPo/tCetMK2BG_4/s1600/battery.jpg

6. Emily Cronander says:

   9 years ago at 11:35 pm

   I know a few humans that emit quite a bit of gas...

7. Rick says:

   9 years ago at 5:34 am

   No.... the cow doesn't look all to thrilled about this.

8. Esketekebanka says:

   9 years ago at 3:05 pm

   Cue animal rights activists in... (we have those too: urban life corrupts the young and impressionable)