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Monday, June 22, 2009

Human ‘poo power’ to heat homes in Britain

Author: Alex MarshallImage via Wikipedia

Talk about recyclable energy source, reusable energy source… Would the smell tell you what kind of energy you are using?

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05:55 AM Jun 18, 2009

MANCHESTER - In a revolutionary project, human sewage will be used to power thousands of homes in Manchester. The £4.3 million ($10.2 million) trial will see enough methane gas extracted from human waste to provide fuel for heating and cooking for up to 5,000 homes by 2011.

The project is the first of its kind in Britain and the biomethane is being hailed as a "fuel for the future" because of its green credentials.

Further plants are expected to be built in the future, bringing the renewable fuel to hundreds of thousands of British homes.

"This funding will give the project a huge boost. The people of Manchester will soon be using 'poo power' to heat their homes," said Ms Caroline Ashton, biofuels manager of United Utilities, the firm behind the project.

Biogas is produced when wastewater sludge is broken down by the action of microbes in a process known as "anaerobic digestion". The biogas is then upgraded to biomethane, which is a renewable fuel with similar properties to natural gas. Biomethane can be safely compressed for use in vehicles or injected into the gas grid. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

From TODAY, World – Thursday, 18-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

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