Powered by Bird Poop - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

westothemax · 12-18-2004, 07:37 PM

Check this out, there's a new power plant in Minnesota that runs on turkey poop. It is capable of procduing 55 megawatts and burns 700,000 tons of poop a year. The used poop is then turned into fertilizer. According to the article, this is old news in England, as there are 3 such power plants there already. Here' s the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6725508/

Quote:

NEW YORK - Turkey leftovers will take on a whole new use after a Minnesota company finishes construction of a power plant fired by the birds’ droppings.

It may not be the total answer to relieving the United States’ addiction to foreign oil, but the plant will burn 90 percent turkey dung and create clean power for 55,000 homes.

Three poultry litter plants have already been built in England, but the Benson, Minnesota-based facility will be the first large-scale plant of its type in the U.S. and the largest in the world, according to operator Fibrominn, a subsidiary of power plant builder Homeland Renewable Energy, LLC of Boston.

Turkey dung is prized over pig excrement and cow chips.

“Poultry litter is drier material, so it burns better, and there’s a lot of it,” said Charles Grecco, of HH Media, LLC, an investment bank that helped arrange $202 million in financing for the plant.

The 55-megawatt plant will burn 700,000 tons of dung a year and produce fertilizer as a by-product, a process that will keep phosphorus and nitrates found in the raw litter from seeping into water supplies, said Grecco.

No extra amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide would be emitted than would be naturally emitted as the dung decomposes, said Grecco.

Utility Xcel has agreed to purchase the turkey power, said company spokesman Ed Legge. Under 1994 Minnesota state legislation, Xcel is required to buy a small amount of power made from biomass in exchange for clearance to store spent nuclear fuel outside its Red Wing nuclear plant in Minnesota.

Fibrowatt, LLC, a Philadelphia-based developer, which is mostly owned by Homeland Renewable Energy, is pursing other plants in poultry-growing U.S. states.

When I was checking to make sure this wasn't going to be a duplicate post, I found this old thread on technology that turns "poultry offal" (guts, skin, bones, fat, blood, and feathers) from slaughter houses into oil: http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=39

jrclark · 12-18-2004, 07:49 PM

Great idea, as long as I'm not downwind

AquaFox · 12-18-2004, 08:39 PM

good idea, but how are they going to be getting all that poop!?!?

Homey_V · 12-18-2004, 09:01 PM

Quote:

, Minnesota-based facility will be the first large-scale plant of its type in the U.S. and the largest in the world, according to operator Fibrominn, a subsidiary of power plant builder Homeland Renewable Energy, LLC of Boston.

The biggest shit-burner in the world. Thats something to be proud of right there

Faygo · 12-18-2004, 09:05 PM

No shit. heh.

westothemax · 12-18-2004, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AquaFox

good idea, but how are they going to be getting all that poop!?!?

Yeah I know, 700,000 tons is a lot of poop. The article said other types of poop are not as usable, so maybe they'll invent a process to fix that, and eventually all of our electricity will come from poop.

AquaFox · 12-18-2004, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westothemax

Yeah I know, 700,000 tons is a lot of poop. The article said other types of poop are not as usable, so maybe they'll invent a process to fix that, and eventually all of our electricity will come from poop.

that would be something if they tried to change our diets by taking over the food industry, then they take over our toilets

12-18-2004, 08:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
AquaFox WaterDog	good idea, but how are they going to be getting all that poop!?!? __________________ ...AquaFox...

12-18-2004, 07:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
jrclark Upright	Great idea, as long as I'm not downwind

12-18-2004, 09:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
Faygo Banned	No shit. heh.