The solution to Connie Patterson's manure problem passed the smell test, and then some.

When the waste from her dairy farm in Auburn, N.Y., became unbearably rank, she started processing it through a biogas digester to produce burnable methane gas.

Not only did the odor problem get better, but all that poop took on a second life -- as power.

Dairy farmers have been experimenting with it for years: Livestock manure, a major byproduct of factory farms and a worsening biohazard, is collected and reused through the process, which was introduced during the energy crisis of the late 1970s.

As the need for alternative sources of fuel becomes more pressing, farmers and scientists are turning back to digesters to see how manure can be harnessed to make electricity, heat houses, and even power cars.

Patterson makes enough power this way to power her entire farm, and sells some of the excess to the grid. Although her first goal wasn't to help stop global warming, her digester is reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of her farm, as well as making her money.

Scientists from Cornell University's Waste Management Institute and New York State's Energy Research and Development Authority say new biogas technology can make harvesting and burning methane gas easier and safer than ever before.

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Listen to the podcast here: http://tinyurl.com/yaxu65

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Emily Zeugner works on the AP National Desk in New York.

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