How Poop Can Be Worth $9.5 Billion

Let’s get two nasty numbers out of the way first (and don’t say you haven’t wondered about these at least once): The human race produces about 640 billion lbs. (290 billion kg) of feces per year, and about 3.5 billion gal. (1.98 billion liters) of urine. Divide by 7 billion if you’d like to get your own annual contribution to this heaping helping of yuck. From the moment human beings shambled out of the state of nature, the problem has always been just what to do about all that biological refuse. In the developed world, the answer is familiar: Flush it away as fast as possible and try not to think about it. In the developing world—especially in the parts where up to 2.4 billion people have no access to advanced sanitation and 1 billion have no facilities of any kind—things are a lot more difficult. Worse than difficult, the problem is dangerous, since human waste fouls water supplies, spreads infection and wrecks overall quality of life. Now, according to a smart study by a United Nations think tank on water, environment and health, there may be a simple—and profitable—solution: turn human waste from a disposal problem to an energy resource. Human feces ranges from 55% to 75% water. Much of the 25% to 45% that remains consists of gaseous methane—produced by bacterial breakdown—and a solid residue which, if dried and concentrated, has an energy content similar to that of coal. Unlike coal, of course, this is a fuel th...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized crops Disease energy Environment fertilizer health Pollution recycling waste Source Type: news