The Detroit Zoo is launching a crowdfunding campaign today to "harness the power of poo," as its promo video says.
The goal is to build a biodigester that will take the more than 400 tons of manure produced at the Detroit facility annually and turn it into methane gas to power an 18,000-square-foot veterinary hospital on premises. The process is known as anaerobic digestion technology.
The zoo hopes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity and natural gas and become entirely waste-neutral by 2020.
The campaign aims to raise $55,000 through the local crowdfunding site, Patronicity. If the Detroit Zoo reaches its goal, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation will provide it with a matching grant.
Fart jokes aside, turning animal poo into energy isn't a totally new concept. Massive livestock operations have been wrestling with technology to turn animal-waste lagoons (where most animal waste gets stored for large-scale major meat purveyors) into anything but the massive health hazard it is, to little success. Last year, biodigester technology began to show sustainable promise, and now the Detroit Zoo hopes to be the first U.S. zoo to adopt the technology.
If all goes according to plan, the Detroit Zoo will be turning feces into fuel by 2016.
Via: Crains