Bio-gas, made from anaerobic fermentation of organic matter such as chicken
manure, hog waste, or land-fills consists of ~50% methane and ~50%
Carbon-dioxide. (Due to the metabolism of the bugs) Other constituents are
minor.  It can be burned directly at that concentration in an internal
combustion engine, but cannot be transported very far due to its low BTU
content (all the CO2 diluent).  Some landfills use the gas generated for
making electricity on-site, others flare it.  Usually costs too much to strip
all that CO2 out for pipeline transport, and most bio-gas facilities are
relatively small (compared to a natural gas well).

Natural gas as it comes out of the ground has a variety of compounds
including propane, butane, and water.  They tend to knock the non-methane
constituents out before transporting it in pipelines for a variety of
reasons, most notably to prevent the formation of Clathrates, which can cause
plugging of the pipelines.

The actual BTU content of the gas you get varies, but they adjust the price
to compensate, so if they deliver more than 1000 BTU gas, they ratio up the
price/ cuft.  No free lunch.

Bill Schertz
KIS Cruiser #4045

Thanks Bill. What is the process for stripping the CO2?

RPI mentioned shipping it in dried manure form.

Paul Lamar
 
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