Since methane gas has 20 times the potential than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, we must capture this gas instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. One way this is being done today is by dairy farms trapping methane from cow manure and producing electricity.
Let me give a basic explanation of how they collect methane gas from cow manure. They collect and move the manure to a large lagoon. Most of the methanogenic bacteria are present in the manure. However, they can add more of these bacteria to speed up the anaerobic digestion of this organic waste. For the anaerobic process to occur, they must cover the lagoon with a nonporous cover. This biological process occurs in what is referred to as a methane digester. This captured methane gas is purified and is equivalent to natural gas which can be used to fire up electrical generators and produce all the electricity needed for the dairy farm. Any excess electricity is sold to the local power company.
In the thriller novel, Green Power, this is exactly what the protagonist does. However, when an epidemic breaks out pointing to the methane digesters as the cause, the safety of this alternate source of energy is questioned.

Check out this cute video and see how to collect cow poop for the production of methane gas!!
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discove ... -video.htm

Cow Poop versus Cow Burps!
Even though we’ve figured out how to use cow manure for electricity, we still haven’t been able to solve the problem of cow burps. Read the following article: http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2002/0 ... ower.jhtml

Here is a quote from my novel, Green Power, where my main character explains to his Microbiology class how bacteria produce methane from cow manure.
[Dr. Pendleton started his class by saying. “Today’s lecture will be on the Methanobacterium species and how this group of bacteria is so important to our environment.”
. . . . . . . . . He went on to explain that this group of bacteria belonged to the Archaebacteria subkingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . He got more technical by explaining the syntrophic association in the methanogenic ecosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . Dr. Pendleton covered the history of researchers like H.A. Barker in 1940 and M.P. Bryant in 1967 working with Methanobacterium omelianskii and their findings. Ray chuckled as he said. “I guess the cold war has touched our field of microbiology. Methanobacterium omelianskii is now renamed Methanobacterium bryantii here in the United States.”
Ray then explained that this bacterium was first observed by a Russian bacteriologist with the last name of Omeliansky. He went on to discus how this scientist was involved in studying the Clostridium group of anaerobic bacteria. But since he had already named another Clostridium after himself, he decided to come up with a new genus called Methanobacterium since this newly discovered bacterium appeared to produce methane.
He again went to the blackboard and used formulas to show how Bryant and his coworkers proved that another bacterium had to be present so that Methanobacterium omelianskii could use the acetate breakdown products to produce methane. He then explained how there had to be a symbiotic relationship between the methanogen and this second organism that Bryant referred to as the “S” organism.
Dr. Pendleton explained how these reactions can occur within the digestive tracts of some animals. He reported that Methanobacterium species have been isolated from the first stomach of dairy cows. He went on to explain that this is why they are capturing the methane gas from manure to power many dairy operations in other countries.
As the lecture was coming to an end, Linda observed Dr. Pendleton’s transition into his Green Power mode. This wasn’t the first time she had seen him do this. He changed from an academic approach of his presentation to an opinionated critique on why we need to use the anaerobic digestion process of waste to produce methane gas as an alternate source of energy. He said, “The United States is way behind such countries as China with its 7 million digesters in the rural areas and 560 power stations and India with one million family units and 100 community units. However there is still hope for this country. I’ve been hired as a consultant by several dairy operations in the Lodi area to set up small manure-fueled systems where methane will be used for electrical power production.”]
NOTE: The story for the novel, Green Power, takes place in 1989. Since then, numerous dairies have used anaeoribic digesters to produce methane.