Originally Posted by
Txredraider
Finally a topic I can add something to the discussion about in this forum: DUNG!
I enjoyed reading all the replies to this point, but thought that I might be able to help our distinguished friend from across the pond understand just how the buffalo chips might be able to perform in a manner similar to wood as a fuel source.
Buffalo are essentially ruminants, fairly similar to cattle in their digestive mechanisms. Something to remember about ruminants and pseudo-ruminants, such as deer, elk, and moose, is that the feed they consume isn’t to feed themselves; instead it is to feed the microbial population in their fermentation chamber (usually the rumen). The bacteria and fungi in that live symbiotically inside these animals are primarily fiber digesters that produce energy rich compounds which the animals can utilize directly in their own metabolic activities. In return, the host animal provides warmth, food, and moisture for the microbes. It is a very elegant system that is still not fully understood even after several hundred years of study.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the primary sugar polymer that is contained in grasses, such as those found on the tall grass prairies, is cellulose. Unfortunately, there isn’t an animal that I’m aware of that can directly digest cellulose. Even termites utilize a symbiotic relationship with bacteria like that outlined above to derive energy from wood. Speaking of wood, guess what the primary structural carbohydrate in wood is: cellulose. What is the difference between wood and grass, on a cellulose basis? Another compound called lignin that ties the bundles of cellulose together, making them less flexible and also less digestible to animals. That is why we can’t feed wood chips to cattle, for more than a few days anyway! By the way, the real way that ethanol might actually be a viable fuel source for us here in the U.S. on any kind of large scale is through the fermentation of highly lignified material, such as wood waste or biomass. In my opinion the only real economic difference we’ll see from corn-based ethanol schemes is higher corn prices, which leads to higher feed prices. It is pretty easy to see where higher corn prices lead in the food chain from there.
Another quick Clint Claven-style factoid: the main difference between the starches we can directly digest (potatoes, corn, etc) and cellulose (wood, paper, grass) is the conformation of the bonds between the glucose molecules. (Who knew that biochemistry would actually come in handy in the shooting sports?)
Now dung is, by definition, the material that was not digested by either the microbes or the animal that have passed through the digestive tract. Mostly, dung is whatever it was before it was consumed. In the case of the buffalo (and don’t give me any of that “bison” crap) that means grass and water. If the lignified cellulose is difficult to digest and the chip is allowed to dry in the semi-arid environment of the plains, what is left in the chip? Basically a less dense version of wood that is aromatic in a whole different way than cedar! The energy given off per pound of material burned is not going to approach that of an oak or charcoal fire, but with enough chips that energy can be harnessed to produce enough heat to melt lead.
As I look out my office window this morning at the 30 mph North wind and the snow it is blowing around, I wouldn’t want to be out there trying to do anything in that weather. Our ancestors were cut from a much tougher cloth!
Sorry about the dissertation there, gentlemen, but I can get a little carried away with feces sometimes! Seriously, I’m glad to be able to finally add something to a discussion here and hope it shows some of my appreciation for this forum and its members.
Tx