There are several chemical/biological techniques that could in theory be
used to turn manure into petroleum-like fuels. According to one site,
manure is too pricey a feedstock--it has value elsewhere, primarily as
fertilizer, and fuel makers would have to bid against other buyers.
According to another site with different issues, there are lagoons
overflowing with unwanted, unusable manure. Someone who is no more a
farmer than I am suggested that the problem could be seasonal demand and
non-seasonal production. Since I don't know shit, I figure I should ask
some people who actually participate in agriculture:

1) Is there a net surplus of manure, or a net demand for it, or both at
different times of year?

2) Are there farmers currently paying for manure? Are there farmers
currently paying to get rid of manure?

3) Is there any "agricultural waste" (defined as pretty much anything
that used to be part of a plant or animal, or passed through the gut
of an animal) that is genuinely unwanted and could be hauled away
for free, yet whose supply would be more or less predictable and
reliable? (We'll take the jokes about zucchini as already said.)

On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:44:32 +0000, Paul Ciszek wrote:

There is also a local demand vs. non-local production, with almost
prohibitive costs and/or regulations to get the manure from the
production site to the site where it's needed.

Paul Ciszek nospam.com> writes

Yes, methane production for one. This is used at a household scale in
parts of india because burning cow dung loses nutrients, particularly
valuable phosphorus.

It has a significant value as fertiliser, and as a soil micro-organism
food, and as a physical soil quality ameliorator.

Often its simply stored for the correct time to apply it. Typically
autumn (before an autumn-sown crop) or spring (before a spring-sown
crop). Its a most valuable nutrient and soil amelioration product,
slightly hampered by the high cost of storing and handling it.

Paul Ciszek nospam.com> writes

In article farmeroz.port995.com>,
Oz farmeroz.port995.com> wrote:

"Impure"? Thermal depolymerization works on wood chips, turkey guys,
old tires, AND manure. The trouble is, they made a big commitment to
the turkey-guts based operation, since their supplier wanted to get rid
of them, but after a while there were competing demands for turkey guts
and they had to start bidding against others. My understanding was that
manure was also wanted elsewhere, but it sounds like there are places
where they should be able to get it for free.

Paul Ciszek nospam.com> writes

Doesn't sound very economic to me. More of a disposal.

On Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:20:45 +0000, Oz wrote:

[snok>

I've read that in The Philippines, chicken manure is mixed with pure rice
hull, carbonised rice hull, some 'beneficial' bacteriae (Lactobacillus
something) to treat soil acidity and attract nitrogen, degrading
bacteriae or enzymes, and micro-nutrients, to produce a compost which is
high in nitrogen, has a high silicon content in a form ready for take-in
by the plant.
I think one could call this a 'manufactured organic fertiliser'?

In article farmeroz.port995.com>,
Oz farmeroz.port995.com> wrote:

Most plants grow in a substance called "dirt", which includes grains
of silica (SiO2) as a major constituent.

Now, soils that consists of JUST silica, such as some beach sand, are not
particularly favorable to plants, but I think that has more to do with
what they lack that will the silica itself.

In article farmeroz.port995.com>,
Oz farmeroz.port995.com> wrote:

Paul Ciszek nospam.com> writes

Oz

I think rather more than 'leftovers'.
What they do with the bagasse would be a better example but few
transported ag products have much unusable waste.