Sweden is Burning Biofuel Made from Bunnies
Posted By Sarah Parsons On October 19, 2009 @ 12:00 pm In Renewable Energy | 12 Comments
Scientific American recently reported [4]that Sweden uses a pretty strange source for some of its heating fuel: rabbits. Stockholm [5] has an overabundance of the cotton-tailed critters, and the hungry bunnies are decimating city parks. To cut back on bunny populations and create a greener source of heating fuel for Swedes, city employees round up the rabbits, shoot them, freeze them and then ship them to a heating plant where they’re incinerated. And yes, the thought of it makes our soul hurt, too.
Photo by Shellylyn [6]
While killing animals to use them for fuel is rather uncommon, using animal byproducts to make biofuels [7] happens pretty regularly. Swedish company Konovex creates the bunny-based fuel, but that plant is a subsidiary of Danish company Daka Biodiesel [8], which makes automotive and heating fuels from vegetable and animal oils and fats. Sweden often uses slaughterhouse trimmings to create a methane-based biogas that powers taxicabs in the southern part of the country. And even the US is getting into the animal-based biofuel market: ConocoPhillips [9] partnered with Tyson [10] to make biofuel from chicken and pork fats that would otherwise be added into pet foods, cosmetics or soaps.
Biofuels can be made from a variety of animal fats, including fat from humans (though of course, this is illegal. We can’t help but wonder whether green funerals [11] will start incorporating this practice into its burial methods, though!). And while it’s stomach-turning to think of it, using animal byproducts or slaughterhouse waste to create eco-friendly biofuels actually seems pretty innovative. Killing Peter Rabbit to heat your home [4]seems a little brutal to us, though. We may be in the midst of an energy crisis [12], but we’re also experiencing a global food crisis. [13] Wouldn’t eating the rabbits be a little more savory than burning their frozen carcasses?
Der Spiegel [14] via Scientific American [4]
Lead photo by Blutiger [15]
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/sweden-is-burning-biofuel-made-from-bunnies/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/sweden-is-burning-biofuel-made-from-bunnies/
[4] Scientific American recently reported : http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=burning-bunnies-for-biofuel-2009-10-14
[5] Stockholm: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm
[6] Shellylyn: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelleylyn/3497024307/
[7] animal byproducts to make biofuels: http://www.tcbiodiesel.com/making-biodiesel-from-animal-fat/
[8] Daka Biodiesel: http://www.dakabiodiesel.com/page552.asp
[9] ConocoPhillips: http://www.conocophillips.com/EN/Pages/index.aspx
[10] Tyson: http://www.tyson.com/
[11] green funerals: http://www.greenburials.org/
[12] energy crisis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_crisis
[13] global food crisis.: http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/04/06/global-experts-unpack-food-crisis
[14] Der Spiegel: http://www.spiegel.de/international/
[15] Blutiger: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blutiger/2949676633/
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