Stoop, Scoop And Heat

If Toronto gets into the bio-fuel industry I will expect a reduction in taxes equal to the amount of dog poop I contribute........

B.C. pet project: Dog-poop fuel
Vancouver official dreams of turning your pooch's waste into energy source
April 12, 2007
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau Chief

VANCOUVER–The problem was immediate and unquestionable: dog poop on his shoe, but the solution didn't come to Vancouver park board commissioner Spencer Herbert until he was wiping it off.

"At first I was angry, and then as I was cleaning, I thought, how do we deal with this better?" said Herbert. "We think just throwing it out in the garbage means we're done with it."

Herbert said yesterday he began questioning why all the dog waste in Vancouver should go to waste. Responsible owners picked up their dog droppings in plastic bags to throw away, and the irresponsible just left it on the grass or sidewalk.

He soon discovered San Francisco was pondering the same problem and looking at the possibility of turning dog waste into bio-fuels to heat homes.

The proposal in California is still in its pre-planning stage with a feasibility study, but Herbert would like to see the idea take form in Vancouver. Dog waste would be collected at neighbourhood drop-off spots and deposited in a vat for bacteria to digest, leaving methane gas as the end result. The methane could then be used to heat and light park washrooms or greenhouses.

Herbert said his preliminary research shows turning dog waste into some type of usable energy can be done with technology that already exists, but the question is whether pet owners would co-operate.

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