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Power from poop. It's an idea that others have thought of, and it quite possibly holds merit. Especially in developing countries where every source of power can prove vital, and extracting power from waste makes perfect sense. But could poop power our cars? Every once in a while, we read something which just needs to be reprinted as it was initially written. This is one of those times. See below:

"Our addiction to oil has gotten completely out of control, and ethanol and biodiesel require growing things to produce. Hydrogen is good, but we have to use lots of water and energy to produce it, so we should combine it with something else to use it more efficiently. Batteries are nice, but they're very heavy and expensive, and they're not as durable as many of us would like.

My proposal is this:
Think about how much raw sewage we waste when it burns so well. Why not power cars with feces? Use a fuel cell to produce water, which can be used to move fecal matter away from the vehicle's occupants and allow it to sit in a U-bend to keep odors out of the interior of the car. The feces are carried to a burn chamber and incinerated, and the heat produced is used to convert water to steam, which is then run through a turbine and used to generate electricity. The energy lost from the steam when travelling through the turbine cools it and returns it to a liquid state, allowing it to be run through the system again. These are the driving ideas behind the Turdbiodiesel!® Hydrogen Sh*t Hybrid†.

†Turdbiodiesel® Hydrogen Sh*t Hybrid is a registered trademark of DoubleNaught, Turbiodiesel!, and Entwerfer des Audis." Note: The seats feature large side bolsters for use in case of constipation.

For once in our lives... we are speechless.

[Source: VW Vortex Forums via CarDomain]

As recently as January we reported on plasma vaporisation technology capable of turning organic waste material into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, a mixture called synthesis gas, or syn-gas, that can be used as a fuel or as a valuable feedstock in further chemical processes. The company in question then was U.S. based Integrated Environmental Technologies.

Well, it looks like they've got some competition across the pond. U.K. based Advanced Plasma Power bills their Gasplasma Process as being able to "convert a pre-treated waste feedstock into two recyclable products: a hydrogen rich synthetic or syn-gas and a vitrified material suitable for use as a replacement aggregate or building material."

The ideal situation for technology like this is to replace existing land fill sites or garbage incinerators, (used extensively in the U.K.), which are both polluting. The Gasplasma Process plants can themselves be run on syn-gas by using it in a gas engine or turbine to generate electricity, over half of which can be exported out of the plant and onto the grid. The result is a truly environmentally friendly alternative to landfill or incinerators. Advanced Plasma Power have an informative walkthrough video on their website which explains the whole process.

Analysis: These days, wherever organic material is being produced there is someone looking into how to take advantage of it. If we could be turning our garbage into energy instead of landfill though, I'm glad all that organic material is getting so much attention.

Related:

• How would you like to turn your trash into gas?
• Robert Kennedy Jr. promotes cellulosic ethanol instead of corn ethanol
• Startech's plasma conversion facility can turn garbage into hydrogen

[Source: EcoFriend]

A company based in Wisconsin called ENCAP has attracted some attention from investors when they recently found an agricultural product with which they can produce using the byproducts from the creation of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. In fact, they can use "almost any inert material, including byproducts of the sugar cane process, or dried distillers grains from the corn ethanol process", according to Michael Krysiak, president of ENCAP in an interview performed by Inside Greentech. They have begun building a test plant in Cali, Columbia to start "transforming waste from sugar, corn, rice, cassava, bio-diesel, and other starch-based plants into marketable products."

Sounds like an interesting cycle could take place... using the waste from the biofuel processes to re-grow more crops. This, however, does not solve the problem of using a foodstock as a fuel source. There are many, Fidel Castro for instance, who think that we should not use any foodstocks for fuel. I am not sure yet what the answer is to that one. Solar and wind power for our electric cars perhaps?

[Source: Inside Greentech]

Recently it seems that a lot of people have found that you can make biofuels out of just about anything in the world. We've reported on algae, chicken fat and even human fat being turned into biofuels and it looks like the list of organic substances that we're willing to consider for our transport needs is only going to get longer.

Taiwan is set to become the world's first country to produce ethanol fuel from yams, it has just been announced by the Taiwanese Council of Agriculture (COA). The ethanol will be blended with petrol in an attempt to reduce the level of petroleum imports which currently stands at 98 percent. Taiwan has around 220,000 hectares / 54,360 acres of uncultivated farmland which will be considered for biofuel production, according to the COA which also produces biofuel from soybeans, sunflowers, and rape blossoms.

At the same time, biomethane produced from waste, is being considered as a viable renewable fuel. Being able to produce a biofuel without diverting crops from food use is seen as a distinct advantage in Europe where it is fast proving itself. Another advantage is that the production costs of biomethane are not affected by world energy market swings. Its uses include injecting it into existing natural gas pipelines, use in vehicles as a natural gas, processed into compressed natural gas (CNG) or the more energy-dense liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Related:

• Leftover chicken fat may become biodiesel instead of soap
• Solix and Colorado State University team to commercialize algae to biodiesel process

[Source: China Post]

Xethanol Corporation and Renewable Spirits, LLC have teamed up to build a citrus peel based pilot ethanol production facility in Florida. The pilot plant should be able to produce up to 50,000 gallons / 190,000 litres of ethanol in the upcoming citrus harvesting season alone, later expanding to over 500,000 gallons / 1,900,000 litres per year.

Xethanol is positioning itself as being committed to the production of ethanol and related products using locally available raw materials to service nearby major urban markets. Their biomass technology moves beyond traditional corn-based ethanol and includes everything from wood chips and yard waste to corn stover and municipal solid waste. Because most organic waste material is now either abandoned or land-filled at the producer's expense, biomass is potentially a significantly cheaper feedstock for ethanol production than corn.

Related:

• Volkswagen announces power-train roadmap toward oil free future
• U.S. joins Interamerican Ethanol Commission but discourages imports
• Shell president prefers E85 from biomass waste, not corn

[Source: Renewable Energy Access]

Changing World Technologies, a Manhattan based company, has developed a technology which can turn almost any waste into oil. The company has developed a process which mimics how the earth created some of its own oil reserves, applying intensive pressure and heat to organic matter to produce oil. The process, however, does not take the millions of years it took the earth to produce its oil reserves. The process operates at hyper-speed, and can convert anything carbon-based in to oil. A small experimental plant was built seven years ago at the old Navy Yard in Manhattan, and since then the company has built a plant in Carthage, Mo., next to a Butterball turkey rendering plant, where feathers, skin, meat, blood and bones get transformed into heavy oil, distilled water and minerals which can be used as fertilizers. While currently the fuel costs about 20 cents a gallon more to produce than traditional oil, the cost is expected to come down to at least 20 cents a gallon less. Even if there was no significant cost savings, reducing our waste piles should be an incentive.

[Source: Philadelphia Daily News]