Photo/Illutration Cattle manure from a nearby farm is transported to a Daihatsu Motor Co. plant in Ryuo, Shiga Prefecture, on Dec. 9. (Nanami Watanabe)

RYUO, Shiga Prefecture--Daihatsu Motor Co. is working with town officials here to use manure from prized Omi Beef cattle to generate methane gas.

Part of the Daihatsu’s Shiga Plant, where the Rocky compact SUV model is produced, along with car engines, has been set aside for the project.

The automaker is hoping to use the biogas in the casting of aluminum components in engines and other parts.

Omi Beef is the brand name for Japanese Black cattle bred in Shiga Prefecture.

Manure from Omi Beef cattle contains less water than that of dairy cattle.

Daihatsu officials said they were able to generate a gas stably by optimizing methanogen and fermentation processes to Omi Beef cattle dung.

The plant collects about 2 tons of manure per day from a nearby farm. It takes about two weeks to generate methane gas through the fermentation process.

The process uses a robot for vehicle production, as well as a building and a conveyor that were no longer in use. The gas is fed into a generator, whose electricity output is used to cover part of the power demand for illumination at the plant.

Leftovers from the fermentation process are used as fertilizer for farm products.

Daihatsu officials said they eventually hope to add the biogas to the city gas at a mixture ratio of 10 percent or so to cast aluminum products.

They have yet, however, to work out steps to address a number of remaining challenges, including how costs can be reduced and where to store leftovers.

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