Brown Fuels - Electricity from Manure

I used to say "Agriculture isn't about farmers standing around in rubber boots anymore. It's about innovation, lab coats and new technologies."

And now, the reason for those rubber boots is being transformed - since farms are now generating electricity from cattle manure.

A facility near London, Ontario is one of the first in Canada to use waste material to generate electricity. Rather than being spread on a field in raw form, cattle manure is stored in a special facility. The biogas from that manure is captured, and used to generate electricity. The left-over material is used for fertilizer. The process has a side benefit of reducing farm odours by 80%.

Agricultural technology is rushing forward - corn is being transformed into automotive fuel, cattle manure into electricity, and pig manure into crude oil - the future is amazing for what we used to consider a 'quaint family farm.'

So - with agriculture becoming one of the new frontiers in technology, how long will it be until activists stop thinking 'quaint family farm' and start thinking 'nasty chemical/power plant?'