Generate Methanol with poop and bio waste

[Kevin Keller]

Couldn't we try to collect cow poop in a major tank for every area and leverage the methane?

 

Furthermore we could collect all biological waste in another big tank and if we add "thermotoga neapolitana" bacteria in that tank, we can get hydrogen out of it.

 

If we combine oxygen, hydrogen and methane, we can produce methanol.

 

The profits generated from the methanol can be used to invest in this tanks and poop infrastructures that would be needed in the first place. Why methanol ? About the methanol economy: http://www.technologyreview.com/biztech/wtr_16466,296,p1.html

 

Apart from that, we really need a new poop infrastructure anyway for at least 2.6 billion people that dont have access to a clean toilet infrastructure.

 

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation try to tackle that:

http://goo.gl/S3CtJ

Edited November 30, 2011 by Kevin Keller

[Horza2002]

There are people working towards using biodegradable products as a source of power and raw materials. The are a few reasons why it hasnt been used yet. One of the main ones is that, you actually need a variety of bacteria to breakdown the material and then another set to convert it into useful stuff. And for the most part, these organisms don't live well together.

 

There is research ongoing to create a strain of bacteria that can do all of the jobs, but thats still on going.