Well, Treehugger beat me to the punch on this one (yep, that's right, Lloyd), but those of you who have been around for a while know I never miss a "poop to power" story. From the AP, news that San Francisco is piloting a project to turn it's ample amount of dog poop into methane:
Within the next few months, Norcal Waste, a garbage hauling company that collects San Francisco's trash, will begin a pilot program under which it will use biodegradable bags and dog-waste carts to pick up droppings at a popular dog park.As pet poop can't be composted, this is a great idea for dealing with material that creates 4% of SF's total residential waste stream. Let's hope that this is yet another practice that starts in the Bay Area and spreads around the country.
The droppings will be tossed into a contraption called a methane digester, which is basically a tank in which bacteria feed on feces for weeks to create methane gas.
The methane could then be piped directly to a gas stove, heater, turbine or anything else powered by natural gas. It can also be used to generate electricity.
Categories: pooptopower, sanfranciso, methanedigester
