Pig Poo Poised To Power China

Pig faeces could be China’s next big energy source, claimed a report by Reuters on Wednesday, following the invention of a bioreactor called “PooCareTM”, which is able to convert solid waste into biofuel.

Pig faeces could be China’s next big energy source, claimed a report by Reuters on Wednesday, following the invention of a bioreactor called “PooCareTM”, which is able to convert solid waste into biofuel.

“The benefits are energy and fuel for farmers as well as preventing further contamination of the environment,” said Ravi Naidu, chief scientist at CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC Care), the South Australian-based firm that created PooCare.

[quote]”So it’s really a green technology from that perspective,” he added.[/quote]

According to Reuters, PooCare’s bioreactor will be placed underground, while waste is fed through it slowly at a pre-determined temperature. The solid waste is then converted into a biogas that is pumped through gas tanks that can be distributed to a local community. This entire process takes about a month, with a bioreactor already running at a farm in Wuhan, China.

China has one of the world’s highest concentrations of pig farms, with an estimated 700 million pigs spread across the country. According to some estimates, this means that there could be 1.4 million metric tons of pig faeces produced every year, with $52 worth of nutrients lost each year for a single pig as only one tenth of a pig’s faece is presently used as manure.

“Pig waste contains a high level of nitrate, which in liquid form can contaminate ground water and in flake form can contaminate lakes, posing human health risks,” said Naidu, whose bioreactor could significantly cut down the environmental impact of the waste.

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Already, Chinese scientists and Hong Kong-based technology firm HLM Asia Ltd have taken part in developing the technology, which roughly costs around $36,400) for one bioreactor. Mass production would bring costs down, Naidu said.

Watch: A Similar Technology Presently Used In Nebraska, U.S.