Piggy+Fuel

=__// ** Pigs to Fuel ** //__=

**Pigs offer an interesting range of potential and theoretical sources of biofuels within the state of North Carolina. Pig waste contains a mix of carbon and methane, the gas used in ethanol production. The two key ingredients in ethanol production are a fat (either vegetable or animal) and methane, two things pigs happen to be famous for. The idea for pig fecal use has come in two forms, as a food source for high starch weeds such as duckweed, which are used for ethanol production, or in a direct processing plant that pressurizes, purifies, steams, and converts the pig feces into a pure form usable in production. **  **The primary issues with pig to gas plan tends to be the cost and the fact that pigs are already foodstuffs. Using food to provide a direct component of a fuel is not a great long term solution, so for the time being pig fat is unlikely to be used as gasoline. The poop on the other hand has little other use besides tainting the water supplies in North Carolina. The pig feces conversion methods are being trial tested in facilities in Europe and likely sites throughout the United States as well. While the outcome of the fuel as a plausible new source of gas is currently unknown, I do find the idea of turning the ignition and smelling bacon appealing. Often with other grease based fuels such as fast food fryer oil, the vehicle will tend to smell faintly of its fuel source, something that may be found unacceptable in the current consumer market. Creation of pig biodiesel would have to be centralized in hog production country, with the likelihood of exporting the fuel to other locations diminishing with the cost of transportation offsetting any good intentions you may have with the fuel (its price for production already makes it more expensive than conventional fossil alternatives).**
 * ======** North Carolina is Famous for its pigs, ** an industry that ranks second in the nation with much of the inner coastal region covered in hog farms, and also the waste of ten million hogs. L ** ocated in Bladen County, North Carolina, is also one of the largest hog processing plants on Earth.The abundance of waste products from hog management and processing has offered major challenges to North Carolina, including a disaster in 1999 when hurricane Floyd took hog waste into the water supply, poisoning the drinking water supply for many people and animals.While there is currently a moratorium against further hog production facilities being developed anywhere near inhabited areas the abundance of what is otherwise a harmful substance has given birth to interesting opportunities within North Carolina for fuel. **======

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