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.
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Every now and again the question of how much CO2 nuclear power plants produce, compared with other forms of power production, comes up; and whenever it does, I've forgotten where I last saw the figures.
Solar cells made with bismuth vanadate achieve a surface area of 32 square meters per gram.
Yes, thats right, all the power plants will be in Northern Ireland, ha ha. Anyway Huhne plans zero-carbon Britain sez the grauniad. Interesting.
Note: I'm way behind on my 31 books resolution - I'll have to hurry to catch up. In the meantime, will you count these 12? I bet you don't own them!
Shit, when suffocated...
Pure poetry. :-)
Not really so funny. Did you see this recent story on a family that all died because of methane buildup in a manure pit?
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.
Tara, methane poisoning is certainly a risk. I recall cases back in India a few years ago when biogas installations were becoming popular.
Let us hope the project becomes a suceess and extended to other places