Peter & all Koalas are far from the only animals that thrive on a diet that we'd consider indigestible - think of termites and other insects that eat dry wood for example.
However, many animals deal with such 'lean' diets not by highly-efficient digestion but by simply eating large volumes, which of course goes with the production of large amounts of dung (and good dung too, with plenty of food value too - for those with a taste for such delicacies!). I don't think it follows that such animals have better digestive systems than others, which I *think* was the implication of the introduction of the koala into the debate. But there might be some scientific interest - who knows! Duncan Martin (Dr) Cloughjordan Ecovillage Ireland On 19 May 2012 02:10, Anand Karve <adka...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear Alex, > our Institute constructed an ARTI type biogas plant (constructed from two > plastic water tanks) for a college of veterinary science, in Mumbai. > This biogas plant has been provided with an additional tank with a stirrer, > in which the dung is first mixed with an appropriate quantity of water to > make a slurry. This slurry is then let into the biogas plant. This > plant accepts dung of a large variety of animals, and I am quite sure that > it would also work on elephant dung. Removal of fibrous residue from a > biogas plant is a problem, which we often face if green leaves are used as > feedstock. The midribs and veins have lignin in them and they are not > digested. This material has to be removed from the digester at regular > intervals by opening a drain valve specially provided for this purpose. > Yours > A.D.Karve > > On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 11:46 PM, David <da...@h4c.org> wrote: > >> >> Alex, >> >> On 5/17/2012 8:22 PM, Alexander Eaton wrote: >> >> Any data or thoughts on this? We are doing a really cool zoo project, >> and we will be testing a number of animal wastes, one being Elefant >> (hippo also included). >> >> >> Work has been done on this by researchers working at the Toronto, Denver >> and Portland OR zoos, among others. >> >> I know of at least three freely available papers that bear (pun intended) >> on the issue (as previously): >> >> “Energy Production from Zoo Animal Wastes”, Klasson and Nghiem, 2003 >> (poster here <http://www.ornl.gov/sci/eere/PDFs/Zoodoopost.pdf>, paper >> here <http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/123/1238059703.pdf>) >> >> "Biogas from elephant dung: a means of mitigating human-elephant >> conflict", Wijeyamohan >> (here<http://www.asesg.org/PDFfiles/Gajah/22-62-Wijeyamohan.pdf> >> ) >> >> "Biogas as Renewable Energy from Organic Wastes", Karki et al >> (here<http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C17/E6-58-09-10.pdf> >> ) >> >> >> And another, hard to find on-line: >> >> "Biogas Production from Elephant Dung at the National Elephant >> Institute Project", by The National Elephant Institute (Thailand) >> >> >> d. >> >> >> >> -- >> David William House >> "The Complete Biogas Handbook" www.completebiogas.com >> *Vahid Biogas*, an alternative energy consultancy www.vahidbiogas.com >> >> "Make no search for water. But find thirst, >> And water from the very ground will burst." >> (Rumi, a Persian mystic poet, quoted in *Delight of Hearts*, p. 77) >> >> http://bahai.us/ >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Digestion mailing list >> >> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address >> digest...@bioenergylists.org >> >> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page >> >> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org >> >> for more information about digestion, see >> Beginner's Guide to Biogas >> http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/ >> and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/ >> >> >> > > > -- > *** > Dr. A.D. Karve > Trustee & Founder President, Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI) > > > > _______________________________________________ > Digestion mailing list > > to Send a Message to the list, use the email address > digest...@bioenergylists.org > > to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page > > http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org > > for more information about digestion, see > Beginner's Guide to Biogas > http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/ > and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/ > > >
_______________________________________________ Digestion mailing list to Send a Message to the list, use the email address digest...@bioenergylists.org to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_lists.bioenergylists.org for more information about digestion, see Beginner's Guide to Biogas http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/ and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/
