Cows Might Be Alternative Energy Sources

U.S. scientists say cows might one day help meet the rise in demand for alternative energy sources.

Ohio State University researchers used microbe-rich fluid from cows to generate electricity in a new, small cellulose-based microbial fuel cell.

Doctoral student Hamid Rismani-Yazdi, lead author of the study, said experiments showed it took two of the new cells to produce enough electricity to recharge an AA-sized battery. That power was produced from the breakdown of cellulose by a variety of bacteria in rumen fluid — the microbe-rich fluid found in a cow’s rumen, the largest chamber of a cow’s stomach.

To create power, researchers fill a microbial fuel cell with cellulose and rumen fluid.

Energy is produced as the bacteria break down cellulose, which is one of the most abundant resources on our planet, said Rismani-Yazdi.

The research — led by Professors Olli Tuovinen and Ann Christy — was reported this week in Boston during a meeting of the American Chemical Society.