The Livestock Power Mill, designed by William Taylor of Northern Ireland, works by placing a cow on an inclined non-powered belt. To avoid sliding down, the cow will start walking forward. Once it does that, the belt starts turning, causing the gearbox attached to start spinning. This gearbox in turn, drives a generator which produces electricity. A feed box is kept at the front of machine to lure the cow to keep moving. A single cow can generate about 2 kW of power, which is enough to power four milking machines.
Although this method has the disadvantage of reduction in the amount of milk produced, it also solves the problem of the cattle not getting enough exercise during winter while producing energy.
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