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Toyota's New Power Plant Will Create Clean Energy From Manure (usatoday.com)

schwit1 shares a report from Futurism: Japanese automobile giant Toyota is making some exciting moves in the realm of renewable, clean energy. The company is planning to build a power plant in California that turns the methane gas produced by cow manure into water, electricity, and hydrogen. The project, known as the Tri-Gen Project, was unveiled at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. The plant, which will be located at the Port of Long Beach in California, will be "the world's first commercial-scale 100% renewable power and hydrogen generation plant," writes USA Today. Toyota is expecting the plant to come online in about 2020.

The plant is expected to have the capability to provide enough energy to power 2,350 average homes and enough fuel to operate 1,500 hydrogen-powered vehicles daily. The company is estimating the plant to be able to produce 2.35 MW of electricity and 1.2 tons of hydrogen each day. The facility will also be equipped with one of the largest hydrogen fueling stations in the world. Toyota's North America group vice president for strategic planning, Doug Murtha, says that the company "understand[s] the tremendous potential to reduce emissions and improve society."

75 comments

  1. California ???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If it runs off of shit, Washington DC should be its home.

  2. can power bitcoin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And all that power will be used to power bitcoin.

  3. Bartertown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who run Bartertown?

    1. Re: Bartertown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Master-Blaster run Bartertown. Now end embargo.

  4. Clean energy? by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1, Informative

    How is this "clean" energy? Cows are well known as one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. How many cows are required to support this plant and are their greenhouse gas emissions factored in when figuring out how "clean" the energy is? If we have to start maintaining large herds of cattle to support these powerplants this is probably not a good thing.

    1. Re:Clean energy? by RhettLivingston · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The cows exist either way. This will take waste that would normally generate methane, collect that methane, and destroy it instead of releasing it. It has a potential of being a reduction versus the existing system of letting the manure release its methane into the atmosphere. Whether that potential is met would depend on a lot of factors. There is always the danger that the carbon costs of collecting the manure, building the plant, etc. will be greater than the savings. That happens often in these schemes.

    2. Re:Clean energy? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The cows exist either way.

      True, but they don't exist in Long Beach. The poop will have to be hauled in. This sounds like a publicity stunt rather than a real attempt to help the environment.

      This will take waste that would normally generate methane

      A cow patty decaying in a field does not generate methane. It only generates methane if it decays in anaerobic conditions.

    3. Re:Clean energy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bill you're a fucking moron.

    4. Re:Clean energy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      True, but they don't exist in Long Beach.

      There are about a zillion cattle ranches within 200 miles of Long Beach. Until I moved out here to the Central Coast, I had no idea just how big ranching is here.

      If you drive Hwy 101 or Hwy 5 from San Luis Obispo (where I live) to Long Beach, you will see tons of cattle and horses. Don't do the drive today, though, because fires have closed down 101 through Ventura and Hwy 5 through Castalc Junction. I know these things because I'm supposed to catch a plane at LAX tomorrow and ain't nothing moving through there. Not even Amtrak, because the smoke from the fire is so hazardous. I may have to take the Surfliner up to SFO to fly out.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Clean energy? by Dogboy88k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are a complete idiot.
      Next thing you're going to complain about the number of trees required to support a paper recycling plant.

    6. Re:Clean energy? by cbraescu1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This sounds like a publicity stunt

      Are you joking??? Of course this is a publicity stunt. Toyota is in the business of manufacturing cars, not environmental cleansing. As generating hydrogen and electricity this way costs significantly higher than just buying them off the grid (electricity) or splitting water (hydrogen), it is obvious the only reason Toyota is doing it is for the PR reasons - especially in California.

      --
      Catalin Braescu
      Ofaly.com
    7. Re:Clean energy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like a publicity stunt

      Are you joking??? Of course this is a publicity stunt. Toyota is in the business of manufacturing cars, not environmental cleansing. As generating hydrogen and electricity this way costs significantly higher than just buying them off the grid (electricity) or splitting water (hydrogen), it is obvious the only reason Toyota is doing it is for the PR reasons - especially in California.

      Indeed, that's why Toyota isn't REALLY doing this. They contracted it out, like their transmissions and airbags, and in this case, they're using the power for their own logistics fleet which is going to have Hydrogen-powered trucks under Project Portal.

      What, you expect them not to do publicity for their works? Why? They know the value of informing people, beating their own drum, and otherwise letting folks appreciate them. It's no different than what you do.

    8. Re:Clean energy? by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      Planting more trees to create more paper and support more recycling is a good thing - it removes carbon or, at worst, is carbon neutral. This proposed plant relies on one of the worst carbon-emitting industries that exists. It is not the same thing.

    9. Re:Clean energy? by Topwiz · · Score: 1

      There are plenty cows in California to support this. For many years we have been doing this in Vermont, it is called Cow Power. The manure power generators are installed right on the farm. The hay that cows eat is not completely digested. The left over hay from the process is suitable for use as bedding which saves the farmer money.

    10. Re:Clean energy? by HiThere · · Score: 1

      In addition to the other response...
      Toyota make lots of things, not just cars. If this catches on they'll be quite willing to make it (subcontracting it out?) and sell it to others.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    11. Re:Clean energy? by HiThere · · Score: 1

      My guess is this isn't quite the same process, but it could be. Or this could all be PR fluff. It's still probably a worthwhile thing to do.

      OTOH, I understood that processing manure this way lost a lot of the nutrients which would otherwise (eventually!) be returned to the soil. But eventually can take a long time, especially if you don't have decent native dung beetles. (Australia had to import some IIRC.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    12. Re:Clean energy? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      There are about a zillion cattle ranches within 200 miles of Long Beach. Until I moved out here to the Central Coast, I had no idea just how big ranching is here.

      Real live cattle ranches aren't all that helpful for this kind of operation, though. What you need is a feedlot, preferably a really nasty and high-population one. In that case, the shit is highly concentrated, and easy to sluice into tanks or bags or whatever you're collecting the shit in.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:Clean energy? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Real live cattle ranches aren't all that helpful for this kind of operation, though. What you need is a feedlot, preferably a really nasty and high-population one.

      That's a good point. From what I can tell, the cattle ranches here in California are more like spas for livestock. However, the beef here is really good and surprisingly cheap. I couldn't believe that the same cut of beef is less expensive in Central California than it is in Houston, Texas, but it's true.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:Clean energy? by tsa · · Score: 1

      Paper is not made of trees.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    15. Re:Clean energy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Manure? Clean? Its what we country folk like to call MESSY or SMELLY energy! :-)

  5. Manure AGA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Manure helps make America great again

    1. Re: Manure AGA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have the best manure. Really gassy. Bring back the jobs.

  6. Poop Power by tquasar · · Score: 1

    The port of Long Beach is well known for it's large herds of cattle. Sounds like an episode of Futurama.

    1. Re:Poop Power by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      The port of Long Beach is well known for it's large herds of cattle.

      California is the fourth largest cattle-producing state.

      Also, there aren't any uranium mines in Long Beach, but I bet you wouldn't have the same objection to a nuclear power plant here.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  7. Well sure by rmdingler · · Score: 1

    Yawn. Holler at me when you can make cows from renewable, clean energy.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Well sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yawn. Holler at me when you can make cows from renewable, clean energy.

      Dude, they can exist off of organically grown grass and plant matter.

    2. Re:Well sure by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Walter, I love you, but sooner or later, you’re going to have to face the fact you’re a goddamn moron."

      You may have heard a rule-of-thumb is that it takes 1.5 to 2 acres to feed a cow calf pair for 12 months.

      As a last resort, we can always resort to math:

      There were 92 million grazing cattle in the US herd for 2016, sharing a total of just south of 800 million acres of range & pasture land with dairy farms, sheep, goats, and horses. Let's generously say that beef producers occupy 50% of the available free range. 400,000,000 acres/92,000,000 cattle is 4 cow/calf units per acre, one third to one half of the optimal average required for sustained range-only feeding.

      Where do you thing they make up the shortfall?

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    3. Re:Well sure by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Where do you thing they make up the shortfall?

      Hamburger Helper.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Well sure by rmdingler · · Score: 1

      Nice play. Shakespeare himself is jelly.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    5. Re:Well sure by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      . 400,000,000 acres/92,000,000 cattle is 4 cow/calf units per acre

      No, 400 mega-acres for 92 mega-cows is 4 acres per cow/calf pair...

      Always remember, acres/cow is what you get when you divide land by number of cows....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    6. Re:Well sure by rmdingler · · Score: 1
      You're correct, but it's still 1/3 to 1/2 of the acreage needed to sustainably free graze the cattle.

      Even with optimal acreage, it's necessary to supplement the grazing with protein cakes, salt licks, and winter hay... which generally requires even more acreage.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    7. Re: Well sure by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Where do you thing they make up the shortfall?

      Grain feeding.

    8. Re:Well sure by HiThere · · Score: 1

      How much land it takes to support one cow depends a *lot* on the nature of the land. I don't think the data you supply allows one to make an even approximately accurate calculation. If I took your opinion seriously I'd ask my brother, who owns a small ranch what he figured. He must figure it pretty closely, as he needs to buy hay each winter...but what he worries most about isn't hay, it's water. Even so, his opinion would just say what he needed on his land. Ranchers on desert land would need a lot more land/cow. Ranchers with lush pastures would need a lot less. Ranchers with grazing access to national forests ... well, they wouldn't figure that way at all.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  8. That's a bunch of bullshit.. by kimgkimg · · Score: 1

    Had to be said.

  9. Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do Trump supporters vote for rapists?

    1. Re:Trump by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Why do Trump supporters vote for rapists?

      Reminds them of home.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  10. 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by thygate · · Score: 2

    will it have a constant production of 2.35MW ? or will it produce 2.35MWh a day ? Huge difference. "The company is estimating the plant to be able to produce 2.35 MW of electricity and 1.2 tons of hydrogen each day." I would expect a unit in Wh in this sentence, a unit of energy, not a unit of power.

    1. Re: 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Sounds like the average output is the right answer since the former in total energy per day is about 1.4 times the latter. If it were 2.35 MWh of energy per day, there'd be vastly less electricity being generated than hydrogen, which doesn't ring quite true for biogas stuff.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re: 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      will it have a constant production of 2.35MW ? or will it produce 2.35MWh a day ? Huge difference. "The company is estimating the plant to be able to produce 2.35 MW of electricity and 1.2 tons of hydrogen each day." I would expect a unit in Wh in this sentence, a unit of energy, not a unit of power.

      THey're both units of power, effectively. 2.35 MW is a unit of power and 1.2 tons of hydrogen per day can be easily interpreted as a unit of power, since they're interested in teh stored energy in hydrogen and are producing a certain amount of stored energy per day.

      So almost certainly the 2.35 MW and 1.2T H2 per day are the sustained power output.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re: 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Power plant is giving the expected output power. If you need to know how much it would make a day in MWh just multiply it by 24. Equals 56.4 MWh.

      Power plants are generators not accumulators so they will always tell you their min/max/avg power output.

    4. Re: 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      The real problem here is that 2.35MW it peanuts. Half a dozen 18-wheeler engines hooked to generators could do that much.

      Let me know when they put together a 500MW power plant using these techniques....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    5. Re: 2.35 MW or 2.35MWh ? by Solandri · · Score: 1
      I read it as:

      able to produce [2.35 MW of electricity] and [1.2 tons of hydrogen each day]

      not as:

      able to produce { [2.35 MW of electricity] and [1.2 tons of hydrogen] } each day

      As a FYI, ambiguous phrases like this can be made less ambiguous simply by rearranging the text as:

      able to produce 1.2 tons of hydrogen each day and 2.35 MW of electricity

  11. Water, electricity and hydrogen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yikes. It'll take a lot of energy to convert that carbon atom into one or more of oxygen and hydrogen.

    There should be a system of points: for each gross thing like this, I get one percent of smacking this author in the face. Sheesh.

  12. Are they retarted? by franzrogar · · Score: 1

    I mean,

    1) You have to "fabricate" the manure (it takes a lot of resources to make and the "creation" process does contamine)

    2) Instead of fertilizing the soil to cultivate food for humans (I guess the "half the planet earthlings are starving" hasn't take its toll in their minds) they prefer to burn the manure.

    Win-Win! Wait... ain't that right, is it?

    1. Re:Are they retarted? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Are they retarted?

      No. Are you?

      1) You have to "fabricate" the manure (it takes a lot of resources to make and the "creation" process does contamine)

      That is a byproduct of people farming cows. The manure is going to be fabricated either way.

      2) Instead of fertilizing the soil to cultivate food for humans (I guess the "half the planet earthlings are starving" hasn't take its toll in their minds) they prefer to burn the manure.

      My guess is that the ash would contain all the minerals except possibly nitrogen already.

      Also the "half the planet is starving" is a mixture of distribution and market problems. I doubt some plant burning spare manure is going to have much effect...

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Are they retarted? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      (I guess the "half the planet earthlings are starving" hasn't take its toll in their minds)

      Possibly because it's false. No, there are not 3.5 billion people starving right now.

      There aren't even that many who fit the (rather generous) definition of "hungry" commonly used to describe the problem.

      By the by, the number you're looking for for "hunger" is ~800 million (11% or so). The number of people starving is a very small fraction of that, but the exact value is unknown (there are places still that don't like to talk about that sort of thing - North Korea comes to mind)....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    3. Re:Are they retarted? by iggymanz · · Score: 1

      Yes they are somewhat retarded, the amount of energy produced is laughable, this is not a solution at larg scale level. And the most important part of "fertilizer" for soil is the nitrogen which the ash won't have, though it would have potassium and some other minerals. Other ways manure helps soil is via moisture retension and carbon (up in smoke).

      In short, poop is more useful as poop.

    4. Re:Are they retarted? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      "Half the planet starving" was perhaps 40 - 30 years ago ...
      Welcome in the year 2017.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    5. Re:Are they retarted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a big turnover in brothels so yes they're retarted twice a year or more!

  13. Biogas by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From Wikipedia.

    Germany had 5905 Biogas plants in 2010 .
    The electricity supply was approximately 12.8 TWh, which was 12.6% of the total generated renewable electricity then.

    I don't see a real difference here, but since I'm not a newbie I can't possibly RTFA.

    1. Re:Biogas by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      The difference is that in Germany, Biogas plants get to sell their electricity for a guaranteed price. Yes, it's a subsidy. But IMHO not worse than subsidies for other power plants, such as Hinkley Point in Great Britain. In that case, a new nuclear power plant is going to get a subsidy.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    2. Re:Biogas by Solandri · · Score: 2

      Biogas is usually generated from landfills. When a landfill is closed, it's capped off with layers impermeable to water (to prevent rain from leaching the contents of the landfill into the soil) and to air (to prevent the smell from disturbing people occupying whatever you build on top of it). A system of pipes and ducts is constructed around the outside which collects the gases produced by the decomposing trash (mostly methane) for use in power generation applications. (Also because methane is a worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide - you're better off burning it to convert it into CO2, rather than releasing it straight to the atmosphere.)

      Plants which convert organic matter like manure directly to biogas are relatively rare. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it has to do with economy of scale. With a landfill, you're collecting gas from a huge volume of material with relatively few pipes. The capping to trap the gases would've been done anyway whether or not you were collecting the gases, so doesn't add to the cost.

    3. Re:Biogas by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Actually in germany we distinguish between bio gas, which comes from manure and decomposting plants and gas from landfills.
      Gas from landfills uou are required by law to collect, and usually it is piped intoo the natural gas grid.
      Bio gas plants are usuall run by farmers because they can be combined into virtual power plants and provide reserve energy, which makes good money.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    4. Re:Biogas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't RTFA either, nospam997, but according to what little I understand, methane, that is CH3, contains Carbon. But simply no mention is made of what happens to all the Carbon released from all that methane. Released as CO2 maybe ?

    5. Re:Biogas by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      Yes but this is Toyota! It's in 'Murika! It's on Slashdot!

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
  14. That is nothing... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
    The real progress will be when the renewable energy becomes cheap and ubiquitous, and our farms are powered by it. Then....

    Then... we will make manure from clean energy!

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  15. Cleaner perhaps but not clean by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    The cows exist either way.

    Yes, but that still does not make this "clean" energy. If a coal-fired plant uses an improved boiler that reduces its emissions that does not make it a clean energy source it just makes it a less damaging one. I'd argue that this is exactly what this is - it might be better than what we do now but there is no way you can call this clean given the emissions required to produce what it needs to run.

    1. Re:Cleaner perhaps but not clean by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Are you really such an moron?
      Of course it is clean energy.

      Either the manur rotts on the fields or wherever and creates CH4 and CO2 or you burn it in a gas plant, and create the same amount of CO2 in the end.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    2. Re:Cleaner perhaps but not clean by HiThere · · Score: 1

      More, methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2, even though shorter lived. I believe the half-life of a methane molecule in the atmosphere is supposed to be around 20 years...then something eats it and turns it into CO2.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    3. Re:Cleaner perhaps but not clean by careysub · · Score: 1

      Are you really such an moron? Of course it is clean energy.

      Either the manur rotts on the fields or wherever and creates CH4 and CO2 or you burn it in a gas plant, and create the same amount of CO2 in the end.

      You are underselling the benefits here. Methane released into the atmosphere stays methane for about a century on average, and causes 25 times as much solar heat trapping as does the same amount of carbon as CO2. So this is a much "cleaner" (environmentally beneficial) situation than simply letting that manure rot and release the methane.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    4. Re:Cleaner perhaps but not clean by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Methane in the (upper) atmosphere stays there for a few years ... not centuries.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  16. So... by Ronin+Developer · · Score: 1

    Trumpâ(TM)s Twitter Tweets could be used as some kind of super fuel?

    What if we run this system inside the Trump Reality Distortion Field... Will it produce enough power to keep Bitcoin mining economical?

  17. REALLY? by Suki+I · · Score: 1

    Someone discovered that modern reporters don't know that methane comes from decaying organic material, like cow dung! Now THAT made this a headline story.

    See also India coaldung fuel balls, India. Just in case a reporter out there wants to get a scoop on what to do with the leavin's.

  18. The miraculous vanishing carbon atom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's break it down. Here's their statement. "The company is planning to build a power plant in California that turns the methane gas produced by cow manure into water, electricity, and hydrogen."
    Water, good from the hydrogen in the methane and oxygen in the air, mix well and you get water. Electricity, from the hydrogen in the methane combined with a fuel cell and you get electricity and water. Okay, so far. Hydrogen, for storage and use later. Yup. hydrogen from the methane. Good thing there are 4 atoms of hydrogen in each methane molecule. Look like we need a lot of it.
    But where did the carbon atom from the methane go. Typically, you burn methane to produce heat, water and carbon dioxide, the heat you use, the water usually goes down the drain and the carbon dioxide goes up the flue. Where did the carbon atom go in the process being set up here?

    I know. I'm thinking to much. It's a curse.

    1. Re:The miraculous vanishing carbon atom by careysub · · Score: 1

      ...But where did the carbon atom from the methane go. Typically, you burn methane to produce heat, water and carbon dioxide, the heat you use, the water usually goes down the drain and the carbon dioxide goes up the flue. Where did the carbon atom go in the process being set up here?

      With just a moment of Googling I found a description of the process. The carbon is released as carbon dioxide, so it is swapping carbon releases as methane for carbon released as CO2. But since methane is 25 times as potent a greenhouse gas, molecule for molecule, this is a 25-fold reduction in greenhouse emissions.

      I know. I'm thinking to much. It's a curse.

      No bothering to do any research, and just thinking a little tiny bit is a curse I grant you.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  19. More expensive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After a quick read I see nothing about the cost of producing the energy. Since it states "reduce emissions and improve society" would indicate that the cost is more other type of power plants.

    Being California, I am sure the state will pour in millions in subsidy to help pay for the higher cost of producing the energy and return people get to feel good that they are "saving the planet" (even though they are not).

    If they can make power for near the cost of coal power, without subsidy, then great. If they need a subsidy, then it is a bad deal.

    1. Re:More expensive? by careysub · · Score: 1

      Because reducing the emissions is an activity of no value whatsoever?

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
  20. A big step forward for Toyota by fubarrr · · Score: 1

    Making energy from dung is a big step forward from making cars out of dung

  21. A messy disaster waiting to happen. by phozz+bare · · Score: 1

    But what may occur if, perchance, the manure strikes the ventilation equipment? Has anyone considered this possibility? It even sounds like an almost catchy catch phrase.

  22. manure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Man, You're shitting me aren't you?

  23. Power poop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I call bullshit on this.

  24. Explain what a pulp mill is then by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    Paper is not made of trees.

    Oh, really? Some paper may contain fibres from other sources but a lot of paper comes from wood which is why there are pulp mills in places known for harvesting timber like Canada. They literally make it from trees.

    1. Re:Explain what a pulp mill is then by tsa · · Score: 1

      I've been hearing that paper isn't made from trees for quite some time now. Trees give rather coarse paper, while paper made from cotton and other textile fibers is smoother, is always the argument. But maybe it's a local thing. I live in the Netherlands, where there are not many trees around but loads of paper is used. It's probably cheaper to make paper from used clothes (many people here throw their clothes away after one year of use because they are then out of fashion) rather than wood.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    2. Re:Explain what a pulp mill is then by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

      Canada exports a lot of wood and paper products so I would expect that Europe gets a lot from there or other, similar locations given the high price of land in Europe and the vast areas of wilderness filled with renewable trees in places like Canada. High quality, archive paper is made from cotton and other fibres because it does not contain lignin and so will not degrade with time. However paperback books, printer paper, newspapers, tissues, paper/cardboard packaging etc. are almost certainly pure wood products. I'm not sure how much is made from recycled clothes anymore though since our clothes now contain a lot of artificial fibres.