Tampa gas firm sees money in manure

TAMPA — MagneGas Corp. has signed a memorandum of understanding with a large hog farm in Indiana to use MagneGas to sterilize pig manure into a fertilizer.

The hog farm was created in 1996 and raises more than 40,000 pigs a year, according to a press release. It has at least 18,000 pigs at any given time, which makes it one of the largest pig farms in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. A future expansion is also reportedly in the works. Officials with Tampa-based MagneGas, a natural gas alternative firm, didn't release the name or exact location of the hog farm.

The hog farm plans to offer a safer sterilized pig manure to the surrounding agricultural community using a MagneGas system that co-fires MagneGas with propane or natural gas to reduce energy costs. If the 30-day demonstration is successful, the hog farm will buy a MagneGas sterilization system and become an exclusive distributor for MagneGas products in the agricultural industry for Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The hog farm will also continue to be used by MagneGas as a demonstration center for the agricultural sector. The process could also be used in other farm environments including chicken and cattle.

“We are looking forward to working with our new agricultural partners in the Midwest and beyond to provide a more sustainable agricultural product by transforming manure with the MagneGas system,” Ermanno Santilli, CEO of MagneGas, says in a press release.