April 5th, 2009
Poop power, the old dream revisited
Somebody always has some clever plan to turn chicken #^%t into methane power. Here’s the latest effort, in Georgia. Do you suppose that’s means they have more than their fair share of … ?
At the University of Georgia they’re working on a process to mass produce “biochar.” A form of charcoal from from organic waste, ranging woodchips and corn husks, to peanut shells (a Georgia speciality), or even chicken manure. Heating the raw material up to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit cooks it into the highly porous biochar. That in turn is perfect soil additive, locking in carbon and adding to the soil’smoisture rentention abilities. In areas of traditional agriculture where bochar has long been produced from local animal waste the soils there have been among the richest on earth, say researhers.
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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