Filed under: Gadgets, Hybrids/Alternative
Newest alternative fuel reportedly not just a bunch of manure
Those wacky Japanese scientists are at it again. Tokyo-based researchers at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have announced that they've discovered a new source of gasoline - Cow dung. No Bullsh*t.
Professor Sakae Shibusawa of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology is reporting that he and his associates have figured out how to... ummm... extract .42 ounces of gas from every 3.5 ounces of cow patties using heat and high pressure. As Japan produces about 551,000 tons of manure per year, this could turn out to be a less-than-trivial discovery.
Scientists hope to improve the technology to the point that the process can be made commercially viable within the next half-decade.
[Source: The Los Angeles Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joey (Kev) 9:15AM (3/06/2006)
Let us hope they discover in time that it has already been done. In parts of Europe farmer coops build and run facilities that gain biogas from dung and biomass. They then use it to produce electricity or feed it in to the public gas pipes.
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Chris 9:31AM (3/06/2006)
39,301 barrels of oil per year = not going to make a difference.
www.honda-acura.net
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David 9:45AM (3/06/2006)
If my math is correct, that 39 million gallons of gasoline / year? That number sounds big, but I don't know how much gasoline Japan uses per year or what % of the total that would be.
MATH: 551,000 tons X 2,000 lbs/ton X 16 oz/lb divided by 3.5 ozs cited in the article X .42 ozs of gasoline created by 3.5 ozs of dung divided by 128 ozs per gallon = 39 million gallons of gasoline.
Only question is, how much energy is (would be) used to collect, transport and process all of that dung?
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klaatu 11:59AM (3/06/2006)
Chris, every little bit helps.
What we should be doing in THIS country (the US) is using a process invented right here, to put Americans to work, changing animal offal (which usually goes to landfills), garbage (likewise) and sewage to produce crude oil. See www.changingworldtech.com
Apparently, just processing offal alone in this country would make it possible to COMPLETELY CEASE IMPORTS OF OIL.
Mind boggling. We could also sell the process to friendly nations.
Why aren't we smart enough to do this? I wrote the President (of the US) and never got a reply (big surprise, eh?)
No, I don't work for Changing World.
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Joe 12:24PM (3/06/2006)
Local farmers in Washington state are trying to do the same idea as in Europe. Sounds like the proposal made to the power company will go into operation sooner than later.
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Krishna Das 1:41PM (3/06/2006)
Cow is mother. I drink her milk. I hope you guys would not kill her now for food.
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IK47 11:00PM (3/06/2006)
^^ you don't need to kill a cow if you need their manure.
In India, they have so much cow 'waste' that it is poluting their environment.
hopefully, this will help.
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