Pig Poo into Clean Fuel

categories: Clean Energy, Food & Agriculture, Fossil Energy

Published October 28, 2009 @ 02:54PM PT

What if we could turn our nastiest waste products into clean energy?

Considering that we have so many millions of animals penned up in concentrated animal feeding (or should I say “fattening”?) operations, their waste is a resource we possess in spades. We’ve long known it’s possible to capitalize on this mess but weren’t sure of the best way to do it.

New research is giving us a clue, reports New Scientist. If you’re ever stuck with a big lagoon of pig poo and you’d rather have electricity instead, your best bet, according to a team from Denmark’s Aalborg University, is anaerobic digestion. The anaerobic digestion process, by which the manure is broken down by bacteria in an oxygen-free environment to release methane that can power gas turbines, gives the best bang-for-your-poo.

If you’d like to ensure the fewest emissions, however, follow the less-efficient process of separating out and drying the solid waste and incinerating it. The incineration process uses the heat from burning of waste materials to boil water and run a steam turbine.

Another option, however, according to Wired, involves a strange little plant called duckweed, which has a taste for animal waste. The plant converts the manure into leafy starch that can then be transformed into ethanol. Considering that we now use way too much land growing corn that can be turned into that biofuel, this possibility is indeed promising for a low-carbon future.

Photo courtesy of The Pug Father via flickr

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Comments (1)

Great piece! I'm a North Carolina native and we have our fair share of hog waste. I actually worked on a project looking into the feasibility of duckweed for energy. It's a great solution to help eliminate hog waste, reduce the global-warming gas methane and produce a fuel feedstock. The one hang-up is the ability to harvest the duckweed- a similar problem algae growers have. If any industry has a cost-efficient way to separate plant solids from liquid waste then we're in business!

Keep innovation and waste reduction going! For ways to save money while going green check out ecodoe.com or @ecodoe.

Thanks- Britt

Posted by Britt Beamly on 10/28/2009 @ 07:03PM PT
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Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations. Her articles, essays, and stories have been published in numerous magazines, newspapers, books, and Websites.