Bathroom time may not be wasted time after all: A year’s worth of your poop can be turned into 2.1 gallons of useable diesel. And the Norwegian capital of Oslo plans to put all that waste to work powering 80 of its buses with fuel made from the Bekkelaget sewage treatment plant, which houses the waste of 250,000 people.
If all goes as planned, the city’s other waste treatment plant, as well as biofuels made from food waste, will eventually contribute to the total supply—and with serious results: Fueling 400 or so buses this way would reduce 30,000 tons of carbon emissions a year.
While the idea certainly has an “ick factor,” it’s not like gas-station attendants will have to start shoveling sewage directly into a bus’ fuel tank.
The biofuel is actually made from methane that is collected by a sewage treatment plant after microorganisms break down the waste. While switching to this bathroom-friendly method will cost the city 15 percent more to pay for new buses and the added maintenance fees, the benefits still outweigh the negatives: The cost of fuel at the pump is cheaper and it’s carbon neutral. Lives might be saved with the lower emissions of nitrogen oxide and fine particle matter in the air. The buses aren’t as loud. And before you turn your nose at this just yet, consider this: The fuel doesn’t smell.
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Image: flickr/ an-girl
March 25th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
So many potential comments that cross the scatological line, I fear that my head may explode.
All doodie jokes aside, this is a very good example of utilizing an unsavory raw material stream to creat a usable good.
March 25th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
That is equally gross and awesome.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:20 am
[...] Discover Magazine [...]
March 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
The world rushes to contain Global Warming (impose the Carbon Tax on Everything rich with carbon credit arbitrageurs). Solar activity is the lowest observed since 1913, including the late 1950s Global Cooling panic. We enjoy a confluence of overwhelming ignorance with overweening arrogance. Do not defer to vermin defining truth and morality by convenience of the moment.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Great Image and idea.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
[...] Via Cosmo and Discoblog. [...]
July 9th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
[...] Content: Discoblog: Could Poop Fuel Our Future? New Sewage-Powered Buses Hint at Yes Discoblog: An Edible Race Car? New Formula 3 Car Made Out of Vegetables Discoblog: The World’s [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 10:45 am
[...] Well, scientists have been able to take just about anything and turn it into oil, including turkey, poop, and human corpses—but these alternative sources still haven’t become anything close to [...]
October 6th, 2009 at 10:29 am
[...] Related Content: 80beats: Could A New Generation of Power Plants Turn Nuclear Waste Into Clean Fuel? Discoblog: Could Poop Fuel Our Future? New Sewage-Powered Buses Hint at Yes [...]