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A research team aims to turn municipal wastelands into treasure troves of sustainable energy production by developing new technology that mimics the inside of a cow's stomach.
Cows are natural methane purification machines.
You may have caught a whiff of it in the air the last time you drove by your local waste management facility: methane. This toxic greenhouse gas — 20 times more polluting than carbon dioxide — is a natural by-product of decomposing waste.
For years, we've known that methane gas could be used for energy production, much like natural gas. The problem: landfill methane typically isn't pure enough for energy use. Purifying methane gas would involve removing any carbon dioxide present, but we lacked the technical know-how to make it happen.
Until now?
Landfill sites such as this one could be a new source for renewable fuel.
Canadian scientists are perfecting a new technology that purifies methane captured from plant, wood and other composted waste. The methane can then be turned into renewable energy.
The inspiration for the technology, also known as an anaerobic digester, is an animal renowned for its own unique brand of gassy emissions: the cow. It turns out the inside of a cow's stomach is replete with microorganisms skilled in producing more methane than carbon dioxide. In other words, cows are methane purification machines.
"We're trying to recreate what occurs naturally in the stomachs of cows in our anaerobic digester," says Edith Labelle, a project manager for the National Bioproducts Program (NBP) ' a joint initiative of NRC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Natural Resources Canada.
Creating optimal methane purification conditions
One challenge to overcome is that microorganisms are fussy creatures: they don't like it too cold but they die when it gets too hot. So the researchers have been experimenting, using electrodes to create the temperatures and conditions that will allow the microorganisms to do the best methane purifying job they can. Of course, all the methane gas in the world is no good if it isn't captured when it exits the digester.
Breathable hollow membrane fibres are being designed to produce enriched methane, which could be used in place of natural gas.
The next step involves creating a special membrane that would allow small amounts of carbon dioxide in the digester to pass through, but would capture the methane. At the same time, NRC scientists are developing membrane "ropes" that would feed the methane energy source efficiently through, say, a factory production line to produce energy.
The benefits of this research could go a long way to helping Canada reduce its environmental footprint, says Labelle. "Incentives for alternative energy are increasing — we're helping pave the way for an important new source."
What's more, local processing facilities for the collection and processing of biomass could create high-paying jobs in rural communities. The NBP research is good news for industry too — giving businesses the ability to produce third generation biofuels sustainably and efficiently.
Which just goes to show: when it comes to improving the environment and building the green economy, you can't turn up your nose at any renewable energy source — no matter how bad it smells. 
