BGU Is Converting Chicken Poop Into Power
BGU Is Converting Chicken Poop Into Power
April 25, 2018
Yale Climate Connections – There are nearly three times as many chickens on earth as humans, and they make a lot poop. Poultry waste can emit methane and nitrous oxide, spread disease and pollute waterways. Safely managing and disposing of it all can be a big challenge.
Vivian Mau
“There is a need for better solutions of how to treat that type of waste,” says Vivian Mau, student researcher at BGU’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research.
Mau is working alongside Prof. Amit Gross, chair of the Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology at BGU’s Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, to investigate how to convert chicken waste to energy.
One method is to add water to poultry excrement, and then heat it under pressure to nearly 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The result is a carbon-rich material called hydrochar that can produce more than twice as much energy as was used to make it.
“It combusts in a very similar manner to coal,” says Mau.
This new discovery causes less global warming pollution and is better for the climate.
Listen to the full podcast on the Yale Climate Connections website >>
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