Rwanda’s jails are reducing their energy bills this year by turning inmates’ waste into energy. That’s right, poo power is back, and now 75 percent of the prisons’ energy is fueled
Last year, the Bill Gates Foundation ploughed US $1.5 million into the first fecal sludge to bio diesel conversion plant in Accra, Ghana. The plant, which is run by Colombia University professor Kartik
With the ability to be transformed into furniture, signage, displays and more, Ecor is an amazing moldable material made from recycled cardboard, old newsprint, and a variety of fibers, including those
Google just announced that it has been carbon neutral since 2007, and the internet giant also recently unveiled plans to invest in pig poop as a form of renewable energy. Working in collaboration with
Giant Pandas are well-loved for their distinctive appearance and sedentary nature. Now they will receive even greater adoration and attention for their bowel-based contribution to the development
We love hitting the slopes: the fresh air, the high speeds, the great outdoors – it’s fantastic. However, we’re not sure if we’d enjoy it as much if we knew that if we were to
While those of you who read Inhabitat on a regular basis are probably very familiar with the many powers of poo, it’s equally important that we recognize the less discussed, but equally beneficial,
Some hardcore carnivores have a hard time finding meat alternatives such as soy protein or tofu burgers to be palatable. But non-meat eaters may lose their appetite along with their carnivorous friends
Brooklyn has found a way to turn farts into fuel, and now Orlando, Florida is following suit. Partnering with several private industry partners, Orlando city officials think they have mastered the
Right now, 8% of the world’s oil is used to make plastics — and oil has to be extracted from the belly of the earth using extremely energy and cost-intensive processes. At the same time, the
When I mention paper made from elephant poo (or dung, if you prefer), most people get a horrified look on their faces. (If you’ve already heard of the paper, what was YOUR first reaction?)
When it comes to gardening, the thought of using organic fertilizers that are free from harsh chemicals seems… well, natural! But did you know that urine is a fantastic source for natural
Over 200 homes in Didcot, UK are now being heated with human waste! Before you lose your lunch, allow us to explain that the waste is highly purified at a nearby sewage station and converted into an
A new project in Cambridge, MA dubbed the “Park Spark” has dogs powering the street lights in their own dog parks. Designed by Matthew Mazzotta, a visual artist with a degree from MIT, the
James Gilpin has Type 1 Diabetes — his pancreas doesn’t work, forcing him to take shots of insulin to process glucose from food. Gilpin got to thinking about elderly patients with diabetes,
POO POWER! GENeco, a waste treatment company in Bristol, UK set out to prove that bio-gas could be a reliable alternative transportation fuel, so they imported special equipment to help process their
Photo by Brian Cantwell Here’s a pretty elaborate way to process sewage waste: Stanford researchers propose using anaerobic bacteria to break it down, producing nitrous oxide or laughing gas. Then,
Engineers at Oregon State University have their minds in the gutter. They’re working on getting more energy from sewage, and they’ve made a discovery that boosts electricity production
The premise of any science fiction movie worth its salt is robots operating without human supervision for long stretches of time. (Those pesky robots do get into trouble, don’t they?) Researchers at
Photo courtesy American Chemical Society The key difference between biofuels that are truly green and those that aren’t is the source material: is it genuinely waste, or is it something like food or
Photo credit: Skinnyde Tech giants like Google, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft have been considering everything from wave to solar power to keep their massive data centers running, but did you know that
Wearing adult diapers just got a whole lot cooler — a Japanese company called Super Faith has developed a miraculous system that turns used diapers into a clean fuel source in about 24 hours. The
The nation’s first commuter train using a cleaner renewable biodiesel fuel blend launched yesterday as Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer chugged from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Texas on a
We talk about poop all the time — pig poop, cow poop and chicken poop — so why not start talking about our own? This stinky taboo might be keeping us from a great energy source. Scientists in
Pig manure: it’s good for more than just smelling up pig pens. Researchers from the University of Illinois and Innoventor have figured out a way to make crude oil out of the pungent stuff —
Poop and perfumes are not two words that normally go together, so we were surprised to find that L’Oreal truly embraces this association. At one of their factories in Libramont, Belgium, the company
Rather than let all their sewage go to waste, the city of Oslo recently announced that it plans to cut carbon emissions by converting 80 public buses to run on biomethane generated from raw sewage. These
Currently pending construction in Singapore, the EDITT Tower will be a paragon of “Ecological Design In The Tropics”. Designed by TR Hamzah & Yeang and sponsored by the National
