Benefits of Biogas

By using biogas, many advantages arise. In North America, utilization of biogas would generate enough electricity to meet up to three percent of the continent's electricity expenditure. In addition, biogas could potentially help reduce global climate change. Normally, manure that is left to decompose releases two main gases that cause global climate change: nitrous dioxide and methane. Nitrous dioxide warms the atmosphere 310 times more than carbon dioxide and methane 21 times more than carbon dioxide. By converting cow manure into methane biogas via anaerobic digestion, the millions of cows in the United States would be able to produce one hundred billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power millions of homes across the United States. In fact, one cow can produce enough manure in one day to generate three kilowatt hours of electricity; only 2.4 kilowatt hours of electricity are needed to power a single one hundred watt light bulb for one day. Furthermore, by converting cow manure into methane biogas instead of letting it decompose, we would be able to reduce global warming gases by ninety-nine million metric tons or four percent.

The 30 million rural households in China that have biogas digesters enjoy 12 benefits: saving fossil fuels, saving time collecting firewood, protecting forests, using crop residues for animal fodder instead of fuel, saving money, saving cooking time, improving hygienic conditions, producing high-quality fertilizer, enabling local mechanization and electricity production, improving the rural standard of living, and reducing air and water pollution.