| Dear
EarthTalk: What’s being done to clean
up hog farming operations in places like Iowa and North
Carolina and others where the industry is quite large? I’ve
heard horrific stories about man-made “lagoons”
of animal waste spilling into and fouling rivers and groundwater
and the like.
-- John Schmid, Fremont, California
| |
On
hog farms, pigs are kept in tight quarters and their
waste is channeled into huge open-air lagoon pits
like the one shown here at a Smithfield Foods operation
in Jones County North Carolina on the Trent River.
These lagoons can rupture during heavy rains, unleashing
a torrent of bacteria- and virus-laden feces and urine
into nearby groundwater, lakes and streams.
© Rick Dove, www.doveimaging.com |
Hog
farming has always been a messy business, but surging demand
for pork in recent years has exacerbated an already foul
problem: dealing with the continual production of the bodily
waste of thousands of animals. Pigs are kept in tight quarters
and their waste is channeled into huge open-air lagoon pits
and sprayfields. The lagoons can rupture during heavy rains,
unleashing a torrent of bacteria- and virus-laden feces
and urine into nearby groundwater, lakes and streams. Likewise,
sprayfields, where some farmers discard animal waste by
spraying it over otherwise unused land, can pollute surrounding
waterways and contaminate drinking water. Another side effect
is air pollution: The lagoons and sprayfields emit methane
(a leading greenhouse gas) and ammonia (a respiratory irritant)
into the atmosphere, the foul odors sullying the air quality—and
neighbors’ quality of life—for miles around.
The
problem has been especially bad in North Carolina, where
the number of hogs raised has gone up fourfold in the last
two decades—hog farmers there now raise and slaughter
some 10 million hogs a year. In 1995, a hog waste lagoon
overflow at Ocean View Farms in North Carolina sent 20 million
gallons of hog waste into the New River, causing massive
fish kills and contaminating drinking water in several neighboring
communities. And the torrential rains and flooding that
accompanied 1999’s Hurricane Floyd wreaked havoc on
hog farm waste lagoons and surrounding ecosystems across
North Carolina.
But
while hog farming has a deservedly bad reputation, that
may all change thanks to farmers, activists, researchers
and policymakers who are working hard to reduce the negative
environmental impacts of the business and even capitalize
on the waste itself. Pioneering research conducted at North
Carolina State University has showed that technologies were
already available to not only reduce hog waste pollution
but to use it to grow crops like duckweed that can be converted
into carbon-neutral, fuel-grade ethanol.
Meanwhile,
an economic analysis by the non-profit Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF) found that North Carolina could gain 7,000 jobs
and add $10 billion to its economy if the hog industry there
were to move to more innovative systems for treating waste.
In its report, EDF stresses the importance of incentives
and cost-share programs to help make such new systems affordable
for the farmers who need them.
Citing
this and other research, along with public outcry over waste
lagoon overflows, North Carolina lawmakers passed the Swine
Farm Environmental Performance Standards Act in 2007. The
landmark law makes North Carolina the first state to ban
the construction or expansion of waste lagoons and sprayfields
on hog farms and helps hog farmers with up to 90 percent
of the costs incurred by upgrading to more sustainable waste
management systems. The law also funds a swine farm methane
capture pilot program that will have some 50 hog farms generating
electricity from their animals’ emissions by September
2010. Time will tell whether North Carolina’s trailblazing
on the issue will influence lawmakers elsewhere.
CONTACTS:
“Tiny
Super-Plant can Clean Up Hog Farms and Be Used for Ethanol
Production,” NC State University; EDF.
Dear
EarthTalk: Can airplanes be run on cleaner
fuels or be electric powered? Are there changes afoot in
the airline business to find cleaner fuels?
-- Reema Islam, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| |
Governments
have been loathe to impose new environmental restrictions
on the ailing airline industry, but some airlines
and plane makers are taking steps to improve their
eco-footprints. The Boeing Dreamliner 787, pictured
here and due to debut in late 2010, is 20 percent
more fuel efficient than older models due to more
efficient engines, aerodynamic improvements and the
widespread use of lighter composite materials to reduce
weight.
© Dave Sizer, courtesy Flickr |
Given air travel’s
huge contribution to our collective carbon footprint—flying
accounts for about three percent of carbon emissions worldwide
by some estimates—and the fact that basic passenger
and cargo jet designs haven’t changed significantly
in decades, the world is certainly ready for greener forms
of flying.
But since air
travel emissions were not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol,
the international agreement signed in 1997 that set binding
targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the friendly
skies aren’t much greener than they were a few decades
ago. And most national governments have been reluctant to
impose new environmental restrictions on the already ailing
airline industry.
Nonetheless,
some airlines and airplane manufacturers are taking steps
to improve their eco-footprints. Southwest and Continental
have implemented fuel efficiency improvements, waste reduction
programs and increased recycling, and are investing in newer,
more fuel efficient airplanes. Another airline on the cutting
edge of green is Virgin Atlantic, which made news in early
2008 when it became the first major carrier to test the
use of biofuels (liquid fuels derived from plant matter)
on passenger jet flights. Now Air New Zealand, Continental,
Japan Airlines (JAL), JetBlue, and Lufthansa are also testing
biofuels.
Even airplane
maker Boeing is getting in on the act by developing a carbon-neutral
jet fuel made from algae. Boeing’s newest commercial
jet, the much vaunted 787 Dreamliner (now in final testing
before late 2010 delivery to several airlines), is 20 percent
more fuel efficient than its predecessors thanks to more
efficient engines, aerodynamic improvements and the widespread
use of lighter composite materials to reduce weight. Airbus
is also incorporating more lightweight composite materials
into its new planes.
On the extreme
end of the innovation spectrum are zero-emission airplanes
that make use of little or no fuel. The French company,
Lisa, is building a prototype small plane, dubbed the Hy-Bird,
that uses solar power (via photovoltaic cells on the elongated
wingspan) and hydrogen-powered fuel cells to fly with zero
emissions—and nearly no engine noise. The company
claims the Hy-Bird is the first 100 percent eco-friendly
plane, and is readying a round-the-world flight punctuated
by 30 event-filled stopovers.
Even more unusual
is the proposed fuel-free plane dreamed up by Mississippi-based
Hunt Aviation. The company is working on a prototype small
plane that harnesses the natural forces of buoyancy (thanks
to helium-filled pontoons) for lift-offs and gravity for
landings—along with an on-board wind turbine and battery
to power everything in between—to achieve flight without
any fuel whatsoever.
Don’t look
for these futuristic planes on airport runways anytime soon.
It will likely be decades before this technology filters
its way up to the big leagues. Until then, take a train
or bus instead. If you must fly, compensate for your flight’s
emissions by buying a “carbon offset” from TerraPass
or CarbonFund.org, which will use the money to fund alternative
energy and other greenhouse-gas reduction projects.
CONTACTS:
Lisa
Airplanes; Hunt
Aviation; TerraPass;
CarbonFund.org. |
