Why not turn waste into gold?
2006-12-08 16:57:24 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment
John H, great answer, but there is no need to be a snotty kind of scientist. It was an honest question.
2006-12-08 17:50:18 · update #1
There is nothing new under the sun.
Energy conservation, coupled with concern for the management of livestock wastes, has revived an interest in generating methane from livestock manures.
Converting organic materials, such as animal wastes, to an easily used form of energy can be accomplished by several methods. The process with the greatest potential is anaerobic fermentation or digestion.
The extraction of energy from wastes using anaerobic digestion to produce bio-gas is not new and the general technology is well known. Bio-gas, which is methane and other gases, has been known as swamp gas, sewer gas and fuel gas. Sewage treatment plants generate bio-gas from the sewage sludge as part of the sewage treatment processes. Many small units were used in Europe and India after World War II.
2006-12-08 17:39:25 · answer #1 · answered by john h 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In theory, it could be done. Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of dead plants and animals or from minerals. Therefore, logically you could transform the sewage into either organic or mineral matter then into fuel provided you could create a system that accelerates the process of decomposing the atoms structures.
This of course does create another set of problems such as: does this create pollution that's even worse, how do you create a safe environment for this process (imagine the agent leaking into an inhabited residential area...ugly) and so on.
Therefore, it is feasible, but you must make sure you've covered what can result from this process before attempting it.
2006-12-09 01:11:49 · answer #2 · answered by Carl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let's ask Master Blaster and Auntie Entity over in Bartertown:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Max_Beyond_Thunderdome
2006-12-09 00:58:15 · answer #3 · answered by Pseudo Obscure 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
People now generate methane from their garbage. Your'e too late to get a patent, but good idea.
2006-12-09 01:00:11 · answer #4 · answered by Dorothy and Toto 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
maybe not sewege, but waste organic matter( kitchen scraps, old newspaper Etc) can be rotted down in a Bio-digester
2006-12-09 01:00:21 · answer #5 · answered by Z 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it can also be used to run a Presidential cabinet, as our current neoidiot has already proven!
2006-12-09 00:58:44 · answer #6 · answered by Singletary 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i guess if you burn sewage it would be able to run a car. the only problem would be the smell.
2006-12-09 00:59:04 · answer #7 · answered by Secret Agent Man 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋