"There is a pretty wide agreement that if we don't reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we are all going to hell in a hand basket. Some people believe that we have already gone too far and no matter what we do, it is too late."
Willian Huges-Games at Thoughts on the Roof. describes his thoughts on lignite, urea and ...wood waste!
His ideas are well worth exploring. He says,
"It has been proposed by our New Zealand Solid Energy that they turn their lignite deposits into urea for the farmers. At present we import much of our urea so this would help our balance of payment, provide jobs and enrich holders of shares in Solid Energy (MP's???). So far so good. However, it would become our largest emitter of Carbon Dioxide in the country, even surpassing our large coal fired power station at Huntly."
And asks, then answers this question,
"Is there another way. Well, yes there is. You can make urea from almost any carbon based substance from methane to pure carbon. You can also produce urea from wood wastes."
If you've an interest in the proposals to mine and convert the lignite that lies below the farmland near Mataura, read this guy.
4 comments:
It will still produce CO2 regardless of which feed stock is used. I am pretty sure the process involves lots of heat, and that comes from burning lots of stuff.
A better way would be to find another way to keep the paddocks fertile......
That's right Shunda. Urea isn't the way foward in my opinion.
You'd think, on the surface of it, that returning the effluent from stock to the pasture would be enough to maintain fertility, given the additional 'incoming' products, air and sunlight. So much must be being lost as 'milk out', nutrient leaching, soil loss through oxidizing of soil exposed to the sun and the eventual removal of the animal. It seems to me a very poorly balanced system, not sustainable and not smart.
It would appear to be anything but sustainable.
I am having an interesting debate on frogblog about employment in the dairy industry, there seems to be a strange case of incompatible ideology and people playing both sides of the field.
How can 'green' people committed to sustainable principles, complain about a lack of wage parity with a nation that is rich from the unsustainable mining of natural resources?
This is why I struggle to support the greens Robert!
I'd have thought Shunda, that the Greens are fighting for a wage that is fair.
Talk of 'parity' with Australia seems to be coming from John Key (though I notice he doesn't talk much about it these days).
Post a Comment