Billions of Tons of Methane Lurk Beneath Antarctic Ice

Microbes possibly feeding on the remains of an ancient forest may be generating billions of tons of methane deep beneath Antarctic ice, a new study suggests.

The amount of this greenhouse gas — which would exist in the form of a frozen latticelike substance called methane hydrate — lurking beneath the ice sheet rivals that stored in the world's oceans, the researchers said.

If the ice sheet collapses, the greenhouse gas could be released into the atmosphere and dramatically worsen global warming, researchers warn in a study published in the Aug. 30 issue of the journal Nature.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/22793-methane-antarctic-ice.html

Mysterious hog farm explosions stump scientists

A strange new growth has emerged from the manure pits of midwestern hog farms. The results are literally explosive.

Since 2009, six farms have blown up after methane trapped in an unidentified, pit-topping foam caught a spark. In the afflicted region, the foam is found in roughly 1 in 4 hog farms.

There’s nothing farmers can do except be very careful. Researchers aren’t even sure what the foam is.

“This has all started in the last four or five years here. We don’t have any idea where it came from or how it got started,” said agricultural engineer Charles Clanton of the University of Minnesota. “Whatever has happened is new.”

A gelatinous goop that resembles melted brown Nerf, the foam captures gases emitted by bacteria living in manure, which on industrial farms gathers in pits beneath barns that may contain several thousand animals.

The pits are emptied each fall, after which waste builds up again, turning them into something like giant stomachs: dark, oxygen-starved percolators in which bacteria and single-celled organisms metabolize the muck.

Methane is a natural byproduct, and is typically dispersed by fans before it reaches explosive levels. But inside the foam’s bubbles, methane reaches levels of 60 to 70 percent, or more than four times what’s considered dangerous. The foam can reach depths of more than four feet.

Disturb the bubbles, and enormous quantities of methane are released in a very short time. Add a spark—from, say, a bit of routine metal repair, as happened in a September 2011 accident that killed 1,500 hogs and injured a worker—and the barn will blow.

If it’s easy to see what the foam causes, however, it’s much more difficult to understand what causes the foam.

Read on:  http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/03/mysterious-hog-farm-explosions-stump-scientists.ars

Halloween's pumpkins turned into power

What happens to all those Halloween pumpkins, lovingly carved by kids and adults alike, after the trick or treating ends? Clever minds in Oakland are turning pumpkins into power that runs a wastewater treatment plant.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) collects the pumpkins and other food waste and puts them into anaerobic digesters or giant tanks, where bacteria break them down and release methane gas as a byproduct. It captures the gas and uses it to generate electricity -- quite a bit.

Digesting 100 tons of food wastes five days a week can produce enough electricity to power 1,000 homes, reports environmental website Mother Nature Network, citing the U.S. Department of Energy. There's another benefit, too. After the food waste has been digested, DOE says the remaining solids make an excellent natural fertilizer for next year's pumpkin crop.

Read more ...