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The Power of Sewage

Posted by michael on from the flush-your-problems-away dept.

Eridanis writes ""The waste you flush down the toilet could one day power the lights in your home. So say researchers at Pennsylvania State University who last week revealed they have developed an electricity generator fuelled by sewage." Hey, it seems that EA will have to create a new building for Simcity!"

46 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Just doin' my part.. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Let me at it after a night of Fort Garry Dark Ale and I'll power a city of 50,000 for 2 full days.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Just doin' my part.. by filekutter · · Score: 2, Funny

      I"m off to White Castle... soon I will be holding a city hostage!!!! Bwahahahaha!

      --
      I call computer-illiteracy job security
    2. Re:Just doin' my part.. by psichaotic · · Score: 3, Funny

      Man, sewerage is bad enough... Whats leftover from the waste? Super waste? and maybe you could do something with that... and then have super duper waste? So that eventually a leak in the pipes can wipe out half the city? Does this mean we will have to equip each house with high powered turd cannons to shoot last nights dinner into the sun?

    3. Re:Just doin' my part.. by Marc+Desrochers · · Score: 4, Funny

      So, are they going to wire the toilets to the power meter and reduce your rate accordingly?

    4. Re:Just doin' my part.. by RLW · · Score: 5, Funny

      The FDA needs to get with the Energy Department and add labeling that indicates the average Kw out put per serving on your favorite foods.

      Eventually 'Power Diets' (copyrighted by me here and now :-) will arrive; these will be geared toward symbiotic foods stuffs that eaten (and crapped) together produce the best power for you home. Yeah!

      Electric Bran Flakes! - the cereal that makes you regular and powers your day!

  2. America.. by msimm · · Score: 5, Funny

    The most powerful country ever!

    --
    Quack, quack.
    1. Re:America.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
      "My opinion is subject to change without warning."

      Sen. Kerry? Is that you??

    2. Re:America.. by inteller · · Score: 5, Funny

      yes, but big fat americans can crap out bigger turds faster, so 1 american is equal to about 4 chinese.

  3. I'm cheap... by loserbert · · Score: 2, Funny

    but eating all those eggs and onions to power the house just isn't worth the stomach aches.

    --
    [ Don't reply to this ]
    1. Re:I'm cheap... by slim+hades · · Score: 1, Funny

      So your just doing your part now to waste our resources by devouring all those eggs and oninons for nothing, eh?

      I personally one day envision labels on food at the grocery store: "1.2 killawats per serving,
      (fine prints: exceeding 10 killawats may induce scary explosive disharge,..."

  4. Well THAT explains... by goldspider · · Score: 4, Funny
    ...why the campus always smelled like shit!

    Seriously, I went to school there. I thought it was all of the surrounding farmland that contributed to the odor, but this is indeed news to me!

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  5. This is just the first step... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... in a total Matrix conversion. A poop to power machine, how wonderful!

  6. What if.. by Trystansr · · Score: 5, Funny

    you go on vacation or something? Would you have to pay someone to come over and use your bathroom to keep the fridge running?

    1. Re:What if.. by drooling-dog · · Score: 4, Funny

      I just want something I can shove up my ass to keep my laptop running...

  7. EA, eh? by Apostata · · Score: 4, Funny

    Quote: "Hey, it seems that EA will have to create a new building for Simcity!"

    Or at least have the raw materials for another of their games...

    --

    This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
  8. So much for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ..."clean" energy sources.

  9. Yes but... by paul_pick1 · · Score: 5, Funny
    The waste you flush down the toilet could one day power the lights in your home.

    Well, yes, but it would be pretty shitty lighting, wouldn't it?

    --
    http://www.switch2firefox.com/
  10. It seems Tom Lehrer was right... by Rexz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

  11. In Related News by MooseByte · · Score: 2, Funny


    SCO stock skyrockets.

  12. bright idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    light comes on unexpectedly...okay, who farted?

  13. Re:Nice sig by msimm · · Score: 2, Funny

    Lighten up, you'll live longer. ;-)

    --
    Quack, quack.
  14. BOFH by dJCL · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, I guess the Bastard will have to see about suing some more people. I may have to see about a lawsuit myself....

    Enjoy!

    --
    On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
  15. Not with my excrement... by dj245 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If they try this with my excrement without a proper licence, I'll sue! Licences for my intellectual property can be bought for just $699. Sure, its shit, but its my shit. I thought about it, and my efforts went into creating it. Bofh Link

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  16. Eat your bean! by RDosage · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Dear, break out the refried beans, the lights are flickering again!"

  17. Out to make a buck by Nick+of+NSTime · · Score: 3, Funny

    This reeks of profiteering. We're to be overcome by the stench of people out to make a buck. We work our asses off while fat cats, flush with our hard-earned money, sit on their thrones and pooh-pooh the more environmentally sound ideas. I won't let them dump my money into their porcelain ideas.

  18. Atomation Killing Good Jobs! by pavon · · Score: 2, Funny

    So what does this mean for the job security of this guy ?

  19. Good old PS-U by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...or maybe just P-U for short.

  20. Mixing Stories by 1WingedAngel · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, if I they use my waste to power the "broadband over power lines", I can get bandwidth for shit?

    1. Re:Mixing Stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Only for companies that have bandwidth coming out of their ass.

  21. Master Blaster Run Barter Town! by enrico_suave · · Score: 4, Funny

    heh... Mad Max 7 Way Beyond Thunderdome

    e,.

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    Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
  22. No way! by Tom7 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Man, this is like when they tell us to drink our own purified urine.

    I, for one, will not use electricity with poo in it!

  23. Uh. by bad+enema · · Score: 5, Funny

    That idea sounds pretty shitty if you ask me.

  24. bad idea by ocularDeathRay · · Score: 2, Funny

    this makes me think back to when I was young and my parents took me on a tour of a nearby dam where our electricity was generated. I thought it was a lot of fun. I shudder to think of the psychological effects of taking a small child on a tour of these power plants of the future.

    --
    Obama is a twitter sock puppet
  25. Not Clean Power by StrandedOrg · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think this qualifies as "clean power".

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    Stranded.org
  26. Re:The Aroma by dasmegabyte · · Score: 2, Funny

    It would still smell better than a rendering plant...or this one UNIX admin I worked with...

    --
    Hey freaks: now you're ju
  27. Re:DILBERT was a prophet by Webmoth · · Score: 3, Funny

    "...Dilbert's Dream of passing IP packets via the sewer system..."

    Wouldn't that be IPoo packets?

    --
    Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
  28. Re:Electricity from Waste by Flunitrazepam · · Score: 2, Funny

    "IAAWWE (I am a wastewater Engineer)"

    I wish I was too, that is a great pick up line

    --
    1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
  29. Conflict scenario... by moviepig.com · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Sewage power!"

    "Wind turbines!"

    "Sewage power!!!"

    "Wind turbines!!!"

    . . . - The Day the Shit Hit the Fan...

    --
    Seeing bad movies only encourages them. Watch responsibly
  30. Re:Electricity from Waste by ross.w · · Score: 4, Funny

    You have no idea how descriptions of my work can kill dinnertime conversation.

    I have often found myself having business lunches and having to change the subject, having realised what we were loudly discussing in a crowded restaurant.

    --
    If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  31. So all a terrorist would need to do... by blamanj · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...to shut down a city would be to flush a bunch of antibiotics down the toilet.

  32. bah. by kguilber · · Score: 1, Funny

    this idea is a load of crap.

  33. Phewey Lewis and the News: the Power of Sludge by goodmanj · · Score: 2, Funny

    The power of sludge is a curious thing
    Make one man reek, and another man stink
    But take some sewage, just a little bit o' fudge
    More than a nuisance, that's the power of sludge

    You don't need diesel, don't take methane
    Don't need plutonium to run this train.
    It smells and it's nasty and it's rude sometimes
    but it might just turn on your lights
    That's the power of sludge
    That's the power of sludge

  34. New Ad Slogans by felonious · · Score: 2, Funny

    Homeless - Will release methane for food

    When you shit you save lives.

    Give shit a chance

    Beans power the world

    Where do you want to shit today?

    We bring your shit to life

    We've Got the Time, You've Got the Shit.

    Where's The Shit?

    Do the shit

    Smart. Beautiful. Shit.

    Ok since I'm appealing to the lowest commmon denominator I have to add one more hilarious dung related item....

    Watch the movie Trainspotting with subtitles on and particularly the scene "The Worst Toilet in Scotland". When Mark Renton is on the toilet pay special attention to the words being subtitled and hilarity insues. One of the funniest things I've ever seen!

    --
    You aren't free to do anything, until you've lost everything.
  35. BOFH: Protecting bodily waste in the public domain by psuedo_samurai · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/30/36116.html

  36. Re:Electricity from Waste by MachDelta · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, I can really see that one working on the ladies.

    "Hey baby... EEYYAAAAAWWEEEEHHEEEEE!!"

  37. Battery recharger? by mangu · · Score: 3, Funny

    If there was a battery you shoved up your ass for recharging, it would come in several sizes: A, AA, AAA, and AAAAAARGH!