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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!"

3 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. Electricity from Waste by eples · · Score: 5, Informative

    Something similar has been around since the 50's called "digesters" that use natural waste and the methane byproduct to power generators. It may have been invented at Penn State as well, but they are expensive so there are only about 20 of them around the country.

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    I'm a 2000 man.
    1. Re:Electricity from Waste by ross.w · · Score: 5, Informative

      IAAWWE (I am a wastewater Engineer)

      Actually most sewage plants have a digester in them (or several).

      Most Sewage Treatment Plants that have anaerobic digesters (the kind that produce methane) simply flare the gas off, because the quantity of gas produced doesn't warrant the expense of setting up to re-use it.

      Seafield Sewage Works in Edinburgh, Scotland does though. It was completed in 2000. If you fly into Edinburgh airport over the Firth of Forth, you can see a row of six large pink tanks near the docks. These are the digesters at Seafield. (The reasons why they are pink are complex and architectural, not functional).

      Bondi STP in Sydney used to re-use methane for generating power the 1960s, but the the technology was primitive, and the sulphides in the gas made the engines expensive to maintain and they were abandoned.

      Now in Australia, with green energy credits on offer, many water authorities are having another look at making use of their methane.

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      If my call is important, why am I talking to a recording?
  2. Reminds me of an article in Discover by MrPoopyPants · · Score: 5, Informative
    This article got me pretty excited about the future of waste/energy. I'd love to see those piles and piles of junk and biowaste turned into useful energy.

    The conspiracy theorist within me fears that these types of technologies will not take off because oil companies have so much power.