The Power of Sewage

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Posted by michael on Friday March 12, 2004 @08:49AM 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!"

14 of 305 comments (clear)

Just doin' my part.. by grub · 2004-03-12 08:49 · 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.

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Trolling is a art,
1. Re:Just doin' my part.. by RLW · 2004-03-12 09:40 · 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!
America.. by msimm · 2004-03-12 08:50 · Score: 5, Funny

The most powerful country ever!

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Quack, quack.
1. Re:America.. by inteller · 2004-03-12 09:22 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  yes, but big fat americans can crap out bigger turds faster, so 1 american is equal to about 4 chinese.
What if.. by Trystansr · 2004-03-12 08:52 · 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?
So much for... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-12 08:54 · Score: 5, Funny

..."clean" energy sources.
Yes but... by paul_pick1 · 2004-03-12 08:54 · 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?

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It seems Tom Lehrer was right... by Rexz · 2004-03-12 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny

Life is like a sewer: what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
Electricity from Waste by eples · 2004-03-12 08:55 · 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 · 2004-03-12 09:15 · 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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Not with my excrement... by dj245 · 2004-03-12 08:57 · 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

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Eat your bean! by RDosage · 2004-03-12 08:58 · Score: 5, Funny

"Dear, break out the refried beans, the lights are flickering again!"
Reminds me of an article in Discover by MrPoopyPants · 2004-03-12 08:59 · 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.
Uh. by bad+enema · 2004-03-12 09:18 · Score: 5, Funny

That idea sounds pretty shitty if you ask me.