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last update:Aug 16, 2006
US research: manure as energy source
After several researches in Europe, now a
scientific US team is investigating a solution to use pig manure for
energy.
With soaring fueling prices, professor Yuanhui Zhang and her students are
trying to transform pig manure into petroleum that can be turned into industrial
fuel. Zhang, from the University of Illinois, US, said the technique, called
thermochemical conversion, was something she conceived of 10 years ago, when she
started off to combat growing manure problems.
In the project students visit swine pens at nearby farms, collect pig
droppings and then drive it to a lab on the campus site. Consequently, the
manure is pressure-cooked until it becomes a thick, black, energy-rich muck, not
unlike crude oil.
One of the researchers said that despite a complex chemistry, the process is
relatively short and requires almost no extra materials.
Editor PigProgress
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