Cooking for a large family has been a great expense over the years, but one thing that had made it all a whole lot cheaper was our "cow manure powered gas plant" -this system allowed us to have free "natural" gas to cook our food. After many years one of the collection drums needed replacing, thanks to the help of some volunteer workers we were able to do this.
		Cost: $1,000 each Raised: 100%

Cooking for a large family has been a great expense over the years, but one thing that had made it all a whole lot cheaper was our "gober gas plant" this system allowed us to have free "natural" gas to cook our food. Cow manure taken from the dairy is put into 2 large digesters... bacteria in the digester turns the manure into methane gas which is collected in a drum above. The weight of the drum pushing down sends the gas through a pipe system to the kitchen where it powers not only a large oven but two industrial sized gas burners. The entire system works without electricity and can be managed by a single person. Over the years the tanks have rusted and gotten old, the central balancing columns in the drums have also broken... this means that only a small amount of gas is able to be captured.

The Gober Gas Tanks are seperated into two major sections. The Gas Collection Drum and the Fermentation Chamber. The process of how the gas is used is discribed below:

• First of all the manure (called gober) is placed in the Manure Inlet tank and is then thinned with water.
• The mixture then (using gravity) is fed into the Fermentation Chamber.
• In the chamber the gober is broken down by natural bacteria and methane gas is produced.
• The gas rises where it is caught in the Collection Drum. The drum is free floating (held up straight by the Metal Central Shaft and the weight of it pushing down compresses the gas that collects inside.
• The gas is then piped from the top of the drum to our kitchen where it is used.
• Old manuer sinks to the bottom and is then pushed out (again by gravity) in to the Manure Outlet Tank where it is channelled away to become fertilizer in our gardens.

Project Update:
This project has been completed thanks to the support of several donors and the hard work of Mr John Poxon from Launceston, Tasmania. Many days of hard work led to the completion of a new tank as well as several other major repairs to the system. All the welding was done by Rick and John and the final product was exactly what we needed. The tank has been operational for weeks now, and is working very well. Thanks to all who supported us in this project.