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Why Isn’t NC’s Poultry Industry Investigating Biogas?

A photo of a poultry house.
Joe Valbuena
/
USDA
A photo of a poultry house.
A photo of a poultry house.
Credit Joe Valbuena / USDA
/
USDA
A photo of a poultry house.

On Tuesday another hog nuisance lawsuit opened in federal court featuring neighbors of a swine farm in Sampson County who complained of smells and noise among other nuisances. These nuisance lawsuits have drawn lots of public attention to the issues of hog waste management. Host Frank Stasio talks with Southeast Energy News reporter Elizabeth Ouzts about poultry waste management and how biogas and other alternative energy could be a solution.

Smithfield Foods recently announced its plan to cover and capture gas from thousands of hog manure pits around the nation, including many in North Carolina. But experts warn against expecting similar promises from the state’s other giant industry: poultry.

Poultry waste does not create the same environmental problems as swine waste, but it still poses some risks. Southeast Energy News reporter Elizabeth Ouzts examined the differences in swine and poultry waste management to find out why the two industries have different reactions to biogas and other alternative energy solutions. She shares her reporting with host Frank Stasio.

Copyright 2018 North Carolina Public Radio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.