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| Science & Technology |
| Biogas from S**t in India |
| 2008-02-27 |
| "...A one-cubic-meter digester, primed with cow dung to provide bacteria, can convert the waste generated by a four-person family into enough gas to cook all its meals and provide sludge for fertilizer. A model this size costs about $425 but will pay for itself in energy savings in less than two years....Government officials plan to end open defecation by 2012 (hundreds of millions of Indians use railroad tracks or other outdoor locales instead of toilets) and say biogas plants are part of the solution. " |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #10 Cow dung is used for fuel for cooking in India. And the processing is all done by hand. I read an article few days ago about increasing rural prosperity in India, and what they spend their money on. High on their list of purchases was a machine to shape cow dung into sized lumps suitable for cooking. And believe it or not you can buy packaged cow dung in grocery stores. http://www.dairyfoodprofessionals.com/DairyJobs/News/DiaryFoodNewsFULL.asp?id=465 |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-02-27 18:07 |
| #9 There is nothing new here. In Nepal and prolly the higher parts of India, the people have been doing this for centuries. They build stone gas collectors and tap the output for the stove. The residue gets spread on the ground as fertilizer. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2008-02-27 15:51 |
| #8 Yep, the man did have the Midas Touch, didn't he? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-02-27 15:50 |
| #7 When he was President, Jimmy Carter made a show of commissioning a few of these bio-gas plants during a trip to India. All of them now lie abandoned. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-02-27 15:17 |
| #6 As Dave Barry might say, wouldn't "End Open Defecation by 2012; silence Hillary" |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-02-27 14:28 |
| #5 As Dave Barry might say, wouldn't "End Open Defecation by 2012" would make a great name for a band. Also, as a bumper sticker it has a certain panache compared with, say "Don't Mess with Texas". |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-02-27 12:48 |
| #4 Where do you find a four-person family in India? The South and in Urban areas. Overall Indian fertility rate is 3.1 children per family. In Kerala state, the rate has dropped to 1.8 children per family. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-02-27 11:53 |
| #3 Curry's secret ingredient... |
| Posted by: danking70 2008-02-27 10:05 |
| #2 Where do you find a four-person family in India? |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble 2008-02-27 10:04 |
| #1 That should greatly reduce diseases transmission as well. Openly defecated dung dries to powder in the Indian heat, then the dust carries bacteria and parasites on the wind, contaminating all that it touches. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-02-27 09:53 |