I am working on some very smart things to say here. Really. Meanwhile, there's 
Shit, when suffocated (anaerobic decomposition), produces methane that can be used as fuel to power engines. The catchall name for this is biogas. Biogas projects have a history in India. As a child, I remember checking out a neighbor's plant in my parents' village. All the cow crap would be fed into a fermentation tank and the resulting methane would be used to power water pumps.
The Hindu reports on a trial run for a biogas project to light streets near Chennai. Instead of cow crap, this time, it's human waste. A remark I found as strange as it was insightful:
A. Mohan of Sundaram Fabricators, to whom the project has been assigned, said the model would be ideal for multi-storied apartments.In one stroke, Mr Mohan brings a remarkable solution to power hungry highrises in cities like Bombay and Chennai. Namakkal, my hometown, has a few installations.
Comments
Shit, when suffocated...
Pure poetry. :-)
Posted by: Bill | July 9, 2007 2:46 PM
Not really so funny. Did you see this recent story on a family that all died because of methane buildup in a manure pit?
Posted by: Tara C. Smith | July 10, 2007 2:24 AM
Not only is this a handy source of power, but my five year old is going to love it when I tell him about it tomorrow.
Seriously though, being a huge fan of the notion of arcologies, this is just another wonderful source of alternative energy for them.
Posted by: DuWayne | July 10, 2007 3:45 AM
Tara, methane poisoning is certainly a risk. I recall cases back in India a few years ago when biogas installations were becoming popular.
Posted by: Selva | July 10, 2007 4:27 AM
Let us hope the project becomes a suceess and extended to other places
Posted by: Rama | July 10, 2007 10:58 AM