Chicken poop isn’t just for the coop, anymore. Some incredibly inventive people are doing amazing things with the droppings from farm animals.

Environmental problems don’t just come from the consumption of red meat. The production of chickens is a huge environmental issue across the globe. So that’s where biogas comes in.

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel. The MG gals say “YAY” for biofuels!!

While most biogas plants operate almost exclusively on corn silage, several newcomers have found solutions that also help get rid of farm waste. A biogas plant in Germany (stated as the world’s first biogas/biomethane plant) is operating with 70% chicken manure, 20% corn and grass silage from landscaping and 10% from feedstock.

In the Netherlands, the world’s largest biomass power plant will begin powering 90,000 homes exclusively with chicken poop. It will take in approximately 1/3 of the nation’s annual chicken manure production, providing a source of energy while keeping the manure from devastating the environment. By using this method, they prevent generation of methane as well as runoff that can damage the health of waterways.

However, it’s not just Europe that has jumped on the poo band-wagon. In China, a farm that houses three million chickens will soon begin using an anaerobic digester system to convert the chicken waste to fuel. This will provide both power and heat to the farm and will save them approximately $1.2 million a year in energy costs.

Using poo is not new though. In the 1970’s, Brit chicken farmer and inventor Harold Bate came up with a way to power his 1953 Hillman and a 5 ton truck with methane from barnyard waste. While Detroit and the large petroleum interests kept saying it can’t be done Harold proved it could be and developed a small conversion unit that makes any ordinary automobile virtually pollution-free. What’s more (and hang on to your hat for this one) the Bate converter can also cut fuel, oil, sparkplug and other miscellaneous automobile operating expenses by a factor of ten! The Bate system accomplished these amazing feats as naturally as a compost pile by recycling animal droppings and sewage into methane.

In true local hero style, Harold did not make his noteworthy breakthrough in a well-equipped laboratory or while working on a multi-million dollar research grant. The converter and other parts of the Bate system were developed by Harold from odds and ends at hand as he puttered about his 450-year-old cottage and chicken farm in the heart of Devonshire.

Mr. Bate stated at the time that the equivalent of a gallon of high-test gasoline cost him only about 3 shillings. There was nothing complicated nor expensive about the Bate digester. Whereas the large petroleum corporations must refine gasoline in complex, multi-million dollar plumbing nightmares, Harold’s methane cooker looked more like a recycled home fruit canner and was small enough to fit into the corner of any basement or garage. Converting a private car to operate on this natural fuel was purported to be straightforward and economical and, for an initial investment of $100 or less  (in the 70’s) and a little elbow grease-it was hoped that almost anyone would be able to start riding the roads virtually free of charge… assuming there was a supply of animal droppings and/or other organic waste at hand (would have been a challenge in my household – unless Guinea Pig poo counts)!

However, before you go chasing your cat around the garden hoping for the motherload, you may want to read this great analysis of what the drawbacks were here at Mother Earth News!