Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Vast Energy Value in Human Waste: UN University

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday November 04 2015, @01:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the poop-power dept.

AnonTechie and Phoenix666 wrote in minutes apart with this story:

Biogas from human waste, safely obtained under controlled circumstances using innovative technologies, is a potential fuel source great enough in theory to generate electricity for up to 138 million households - the number of households in Indonesia, Brazil, and Ethiopia combined.

A report today from UN University's Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health estimates that biogas potentially available from human waste worldwide would have a value of up to US$ 9.5 billion in natural gas equivalent. And the residue, dried and charred, could produce 2 million tonnes of charcoal-equivalent fuel, curbing the destruction of trees.

Finally, experts say, the large energy value would prove small relative to that of the global health and environmental benefits that would accrue from the safe treatment of human waste in low-resource settings.

http://phys.org/news/2015-11-vast-energy-human-university.html

[Video]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=807RtubRyF0

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Vast Energy Value in Human Waste: UN University | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 20 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday November 04 2015, @03:33AM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday November 04 2015, @03:33AM (#258257)

    Makes me remember flame toilets, I was considering one of these for our cabin:

    http://www.storburn.ca/ [storburn.ca]

    but before I bought it, the factory burned down - I took that as a sign.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday November 04 2015, @03:42AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday November 04 2015, @03:42AM (#258262) Journal

    Maybe their misleading marketing should have been a sign.

    Burns either propane or natural gas
    ...
    NON-POLLUTING

    The STORBURN toilet is self-contained and does not discharge any effluent into the soil or harmful gas into the atmosphere. All that remains after the incinerator cycle is sterile ash.

    http://www.storburn.ca/info.html [storburn.ca]

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday November 04 2015, @04:16AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday November 04 2015, @04:16AM (#258274)

      Depends on your definition of pollution and harmful gas, I suppose. They're supposed to smell like singed hair when "cycling" and they can't smell too good between cycles. All in all, I think the composting approach is better, if conventional septic systems aren't an option.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]