June 4, 2006

We’ve too few pigs, too many people

Reynolds is a small town in Indiana where people are outnumbered by pigs, in a ratio of 1: 300. Folks there are so well endowed with cows and pigs that they have decided to go for bio-renewable energy in a big way; generate electricity from animal waste and produce natural gas with the methane from the wastes of pigs, cows, and people.

Reynolds has been declared the first bio-town in the US that seeks to be come zero-dependant on conventional energy fuel. An old resident, who blames the rise fuel prices on Arab nations, is quoted in NYT as saying they needed to be shown that ‘we can do it (find our own energy), and we don’t need them’.This Indiana town has 533 residents, and it can count on adequate supply of bio-waste from 150,000 pigs and a comparable number of cows to meet all its energy needs.

I can’t see Mysore drawing power from pigs. We don’t have that many of them. At the last count they numbered around 18,000 in the entire Mysore town. Which makes for a dismal pig-people ratio. Our problem: we have too few pigs; and too many people.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very Interesting and educative.Well ,pigs were in surplus there in Indiana and they turned it into an opportunity.
Coming to our city Mysore,we may not enjoy the same ratio of pigs/cattle to people but we sure produce ample household waste which could produce ample waste gases to run the city's waste water treatment plant may be or generate power to beautify tourist destination in the city and attract international visitors.This could lead to a thriving tourist related business climate.Opportunities often are thrown up in adversities.We just need to keep our eyes pealed.
Vinod Maroli

Anonymous said...

How do we go forward? To my mind soon as a value is put to commodity it find a market.I know of places where separate bins are used to collect biodegradable garbage and others.It is for the policy makers to think,plan and execute a workable mechanism.My business is to provide technology that works on waste gases to generate heat and power. Strengthening the community is a not my call.Sound noble though !