Imagine eating food that was cooked using natural gas generated from your own human waste. Thousands of prisoners in Rwanda don't have to imagine it -- they live it.

Prisoners' feces is converted into combustible "biogas," or methane gas that can be used for cooking. It has reduced by 60 percent the annual wood-fuel costs which would otherwise reach near $1 million, according to Silas Lwakabamba, rector of the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management, where the technology was developed.

Last month, the Rwandan prison biogas facilities received an Ashden Award for sustainable energy. The award, which comes with a prize worth nearly $50,000, is given by the Ashden Trust, a British charity organization that promotes green technologies.

"It's turning a negative social situation in terms of the Rwandan genocide into something that can benefit local people in the local area," said Corrina Cordon, spokeswoman for the Ashden Awards.

Many of Rwanda's 120,000 prisoners are incarcerated because of the genocidal campaign. The prisons are overcrowded by a factor of 10, Lwakabamba said.

He added that prison overpopulation has created a situation where the facilities have significantly increased energy needs. The overcrowding also leads to large amounts of human waste that the prisons cannot adequately process.

Lwakabamba said that prior to the construction of biogas facilities at a prison situated atop a hill at Cyangugu in southwestern Rwanda, some human waste was being thrown down the hill, near natural bodies of water such as Lake Kivu.

"It got started when we went to these prisons and we realized that so much human waste was going into these rivers and we had to try something," he said.

The university rector said that the Rwandan biogas facilities, which are currently in half of the 30 prisons around the country, now contribute half of the energy needs for cooking and lighting in each location.

Rwanda's biogas facilities are among the most ambitious in the world, given their size and scope. They range up to 1,000 cubic meters in something resembling a beehive shape.

The process requires putting a given amount of human or other animal waste into a "digester," which ferments it using bacteria to release methane gas that can be captured and then burned as fuel. Attached is a "compensating chamber" that replenishes the supply of bacteria to keep the operation self-sustaining.

The lead engineer on the project, Ainea Kimaro, says that within four weeks, 100 cubic meters of waste can be transformed into 50 cubic meters of fuel.

Biogas is being used around the world, including in homes in Nepal and to power trains in Sweden.

Kimaro said that while waste smells bad initially, the biogas that is produced has no foul odor. He added that the Rwandan prisoners are not put off by the idea of using the byproduct of human waste to cook.

"Our people are very adaptive," he said. "They see it working; they want to use it."

Once the methane is produced, the remaining waste is used as an odor-free fertilizer for the gardens at the prison.

Martin Wright, an Ashden Awards judge who traveled to Rwanda and visited the prison at Cyangugu, got down on his hands and knees to take a whiff of the manure.

"I've sniffed the residue and there is no smell at all," he said.

As remarkable as the odorless fertilizer is, Wright said that he was even more impressed by the idea that the new energy project involves people being held on charges of genocide in Cyangugu, just across the border from the volatile civil war raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"(That) they've become the site for this amazing pioneering project means that you're taking something that's a consequence of human misery and producing something hopeful out of it," he said.

http://wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,...w=wn_tophead_1

What a bunch of

"This is total crap"-Indeed it is.

I must say though, it IS interesting. And think of the energy we could create with those having chronic diarriah(sp?)...

As repulsive as the concept of cooking with human waste or at least a product derived from it initially seems, when you think about it, it's no more repulsive than eating crops that have been fertilized with animal waste. You have to give them credit for using their available resources. As the old adage goes: "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Originally Posted by DTop

As repulsive as the concept of cooking with human waste or at least a product derived from it initially seems, when you think about it, it's no more repulsive than eating crops that have been fertilized with animal waste. You have to give them credit for using their available resources. As the old adage goes: "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Yup. As long as harmful substances from crap don't actually get into the food, I'm okay with this.

Crap is probably the least harmful thing we humans produce

Originally Posted by DTop

As repulsive as the concept of cooking with human waste or at least a product derived from it initially seems, when you think about it, it's no more repulsive than eating crops that have been fertilized with animal waste. You have to give them credit for using their available resources. As the old adage goes: "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Thats true. And I wouldnt mind it much...But think of the other possibilities. Cars that ran on it, electricity that ran off it...The oil crisis would be over!

but think of the smell from a crap car?
hehe
stopped at a red light and your behind to this dark brown car and you just hear a loud fart noise come out of the exhaust...

bulldog


If you are squemish about recycled methane that I don't recommend you take a trip to the international space station were they will drink recycled urine and sweat from all the humans and animals on board

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02nov_1.htm

Evidently after purifying, it is fresher than most of the stuff we drink down here. After all a molecule of H20 is the same as any other, as is CH4 Methane.

Indeed, the availabity clean drinking water is one of the big issues concerning the third world and some predict future wars will be fought over it.

Water is even getting scarce in some parts of England believe it or not!

Originally Posted by rotc boy

but think of the smell from a crap car?
hehe
stopped at a red light and your behind to this dark brown car and you just hear a loud fart noise come out of the exhaust...

The article stated that there was a deodorizer.

Originally Posted by perseus

bulldog


If you are squemish about recycled methane that I don't recommend you take a trip to the international space station were they will drink recycled urine and sweat from all the humans and animals on board

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast02nov_1.htm

Evidently after purifying, it is fresher than most of the stuff we drink down here. After all a molecule of H20 is the same as any other, as is CH4 Methane.

Indeed, the availabity clean drinking water is one of the big issues concerning the third world and some predict future wars will be fought over it.

Water is even getting scarce in some parts of England believe it or not!

Not the least bit squeamish mate. Been to Singapore anyone? They recycle sewage water for ALL their drinking water. I noticed no smell or taste difference.

Another factoid Americans may not be aware of, when in Uni I had a biology prof who showed us research proving that from the time a molecule of water travels from Minnesota to the Gulf down the mighty Mississippi River it passes through a human digestive track over 500 times. Ah, the miracles of modern treatment methods... makes me all misty eyed.

The title of the post was simply for humorous reasons, a play on words, intelligent sarcasm... but now that I've had to explain it the moment is lost.

I was going to comment on it but I thought it went without saying, I suppose not...Sorry BD, but if it makes you feel any better, I got it...


Now, back to the fact that human waste is among the most abundant on earth, I say full steam ahead. Lets use it for cooking, lets use it for energy, lets use it for gas, lets USE it. I think its a great idea. And lets recycle sewage water too. Im the biggest re-user in my family, my parents fall a car till the wheels fall off it...Anything to save money, Im jumpin on.