Biodiesel From Sewage Sludge

MTorrice writes "Scientists have developed a way to convert lipids from sewage sludge into biodiesel. The low cost and high yield of the sludge process may make it economically feasible as a source of biofuel, the researchers say. Today, biofuel producers use lipids in vegetable oils to derive biodiesel, a mixture of fatty-acid-like molecules. Biodiesel is compatible with existing diesel engines, burns with less pollution than petroleum-derived diesel does, and comes from renewable resources. But current biodiesel feedstocks are expensive, limiting the fuel's widespread use. The researchers from South Korea found that sewage sludge, the semisolid material left over from wastewater treatment, can yield 2,200 times more lipids than soybeans and costs 96% less to process. To turn the sludge lipids into biodiesel, the researchers heated them with methanol."

Comments

Re:LOL!

[Errol backfiring]

Please do. Western people use their own manure to pollute the seas and then spend money on chemicals to give the soil what the manure should have given it. If you use a compost toilet, you save the environment in a lot of ways and also a lot of money (like the money spent on sewage treatment). There's a nice book about it. You can download it for free at http://humanurehandbook.com/ (link on the left of the page).