A use for Invasive Plants?

Here’s an interesting article about a novel approach to dealing with an invasive weed. In short, the idea is to generate methane by allowing the weeds to ferment in giant digesters.

On the surface this looks like a great idea – however, as I have said before, we need to make sure that the steps we are taking to solve an environmental problem in one area do not cause more problems elsewhere.

When considering this project we also need to consider:

• The damage that harvesting the weed will cause to the environment.

  Even though it is invasive, it is still part of the ecosystem. What ramifications will removing it have?

  We also need to consider the damage that the harvesting process will cause.

• We need to remember that methane is a green house gas. If it is released into the atmosphere, it will cause more damage than releasing carbon dioxide.

• Methane is normally used in a combustion reaction – meaning that is burned to generate heat. That combustion process will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

• What is going to be done with remaining fermented weeds once they have been processed? How damaging are they to the environment?

Enough with all the negatives

While keeping in mind that methane is burned and it does produce CO2, it is important to realize that it is a cleaner burn than other fuels. If we could replace some of the vehicles that currently burn oil with methane, it would be a positive step for the environment.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas – a fuel that is used for heating homes, generating electricity, and running cars. If the process of harvesting and processing the invasive plants is less damaging then the conventional process of drilling and extracting the gas from the ground then this is a great alternative fuel source.

Here is an excerpt from the article

You can read the rest of the article at the Cape May County Hearld.