What a gas!

Like my peer group, I "came of age" in the 1960's. I remember that we all used some colorful slang back than. If you'd like to take another trip down memory lane, the link below will take you to 145 of them:

http://www.the60sofficialsite.com/Do_You_Remember_The_60s_Slang_.html

The first one on the list is "a gas", which meant you were having a lot of fun. "What a gas" was how you described an event that you had gone to, and it also makes for a fun title about an article that involves gas

Almost two years ago, I wrote an article about a company that had figured out a way to convert the “slurry” in hog containment ponds into asphalt. To give you an idea of how BIG these ponds are, just click on the link in the article below titled “one flew over the pop poo nest”.

http://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-power-of-pig-poop_21.html

In addition to oil and asphalt, the hog slurry (when treated) can be turned into natural gas and other fuels, and can also be used as fertilizer. In addition, the converted substance can also be used to generate electricity.

Today’s Washington Post had an article that detailed how the “pig slop” can be converted into natural gas. Since I have personally had a close encounter with a slurry pond, I can assure you that the little critters produce a LOT of natural gas.

The world’s largest pork producer is teaming up with a Virginia-based energy company to harness methane gas from thousands of malodorous hog lagoons to both heat homes and combat climate change.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/11/27/companies-launch-plan-capture-methane-hog-manure-lagoons/?utm_term=.10458b9f4288

Full details of the operation are contained in the link shown above, but here’s the short story:

The two companies will spend $250 million over the next 10 years for the project.

Agriculture emissions account for 9% of the nation’s greenhouse gasses.

Methane is 25 times more potent a gas than carbon dioxide.

Since 1990, there has been a 68% increase in emissions from livestock manure.

13 years ago, Smithfield (the hog producer) tried to convert hog manure to diesel. The process did not work, and the company lost nearly $30,000,000.

If you tried to find out how today’s hog production compares to 1998, you’ll likely stumble on the article shown below:

https://www.indianaprairiefarmer.com/hog/pork-industry-says-it-feels-1998-all-over-again

Unless you are a hog farmer, you probably have forgotten that 1998 was a disaster for hog farmers, since the market value for hogs literally went down to ZERO. Unfortunately, this fall there are two parallels to 1998. The first is that losses this fall could be among the largest since that last quarter of 1998. The second is that the U.S. government is making direct payments to pork producers.

A large part of the current problem is the tariffs that were “going to make American great again”. Both Mexico and China are big markets for our pork exports, and our newly-imposed tariffs on their products have greatly reduced our “outflow”. This year, our pork production is up 6% over last year. However, when we have record supplies of pork and limits on our ability to access some export markets, prices tumble and our efficient producers suffer.

It IS encouraging that some creative people have devised methods to change a waste product into other uses. However, it will likely be a LONG time before somebody figures out how to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.