Portland Wants To Turn Poop Into Renewable Energy

Petrol and diesel are not unlimited, which means that at some point in time they will run out. This is why there has been an emphasis placed on renewable energy, and also on machines that do not rely on fuel to run, such as electric cars. However it seems that in the future, it is also possible that our vehicles could run on poop.

The city of Portland has recently approved a methane recovery project. What this means is that they plan to collect the methane gas from sewage and turn that into a renewable energy source. Since we all need to poop, it is pretty much unlimited. According to Commissioner Nick Fish, “We are creating a triple-win for the public in terms of revenue, climate action and cleaner air. The renewable natural gas we will produce is truly local and homegrown, a by-product of the waste from every Portland household that we can now repurpose.”

The goal of this project is to reduce the 1.34 million gallons of dirty diesel fuel a year and also cut greenhouse emissions by 21,000 tons. It is also supposed to help generate around $3 million in revenue a year, and will also have less impact on the environment since there is no drilling required.

This isn’t the first time that an idea has been proposed regarding the reusing of human waste. As you might recall, several years ago Bill Gates helped to push for a machine that could turn poop into drinkable water, although in Portland’s case since no ingestion is required, it does sound more palatable.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Green, Transportation
Tags: Science