The Dad who worked with a bunch of Fairies - post 3

Hello - are you there?

We have got to the bit where Dad and his Fairies are mixing tiny bits of food waste together in towering tanks and heating it to clean out the bacteria and you might be wondering why they do this or how they do this?   When I was wondering how it looked a picture came to mind which I have drawn here for you.   It is completly untrue, it doesn't look like this at all.    They use special machinery to do this which needs power to turn the wheels and cogs, to heat the gloopy mixture, very sophisticated machinery invented by extremely clever scientists.     


There is a bit that I can tell you that is true though.   This is super, mega important - I think so because there is a quiet problem bubbling away in this world.   You might have heard of it?   It is called Climate Change or sometimes Global Warming which are both terms used to describe what is happening.   Oh, have you already learned about this at school?   So you know that we human beings are using all sorts of  non-renewable resources in our lovely world that can never be replaced just to do the things that are essential now like turn on lights,  ride in a train, plane, car or ship?   Things to keep our houses warm and clean - all pretty essential things.   

But what happens when the coal, oil, water and other resources are finished?   What happens when the climate is changed so much by too much carbon being increased into the atmosphere too quickly that animals and plants begin to die?    When the plants can't live in our climate any longer what will happen to all the things that depend on those plants for food?   They will die and become extinct - even people will suffer -and that is why Dad and his Fairies are doing such a very important job.

Let me see if I can explain.   The loads of rank, smelly gloop that is delivered to the AD Plant  are processed and three really good things happen.

First of all the mixture gives off a gas called methane.   Too much methane in the atmosphere is considered not A-Good-Thing.  Here is something funny you might not know...methane is found in lots of things , mostly we think about it as the gas given off by rotting garbage but it is also in the burps of sheep and has been of some concern to some scientists.  Some scientists have linked the possibility of too many sheep burping to an increase of methane into the atmosphere.  

The methane given off in the AD Plant is used to make electricity to drive the AD Plant machinery so they are not using up precious coal or oil to do this.  AND...and the methane is NOT being released into the atmosphere as it would in a dump.   It is being used - clever stuff.

Secondly  all that horrible stuff you threw away is turned into fertiliser for farmers to use to grow more crops of yummy things to eat.   Yes - believe it or not your rubbish is good enough grub for crops and vegetables to eat, yum yum.   Full of good-for-you nutrients.

Thirdly, instead of your waste food all going into a huge, big, smelly rubbish dump or land-fill site somewhere every single bit is being recycled to make something good without waste.   A little bit like a Phoenix rising from the ashes in a funny sort of way.

Oh dear, look at the time again!  JP wants me to take him for a walk it is a lovely spring day out there.  He wants to go down Moor Lane and hunt for squirrels...he never catches them.   I want to go and put some fertiliser on my plants so they grow into lovely salads and vegetables in a few weeks.   Next time, I promise you, I'll be back with something very scary .....oh yes, all this good, happy stuff is going to take a dark turn.   Well, it wouldn't be fun without a villian.    Ummm - let me think...maybe one of you would like to guess who the villian will be, or maybe you would like to suggest one or send me a picture?   If you have an idea just send me an email by clicking on the little envelope under this blog post.   It would be fun to see who guesses correctly, or sends me a picture, of who you think the villian will be that I chose for this completly untue story with more than a grain of truth.  I'm off to find a suitable villian....JP thinks it could be the squirrels.