If you think the future looks like shit regardless of the outcome of the US Presidential Election, you’re actually righter than you think.
In a huge win for science and those who think poo is neat (sickos), a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report has told of the glorious conversion of raw sewage into biocrude oil.
The scientists used a process known as hydrothermal liquefaction to mimic “the geological conditions the Earth uses to create crude oil, using high pressure and temperature to achieve in minutes something that takes Mother Nature millions of years,” the report said.
By heating the poop to 344 degrees celsius and running it through an exceptionally high pressured tube (750 kilos per square centimetre), they are able to produce a product called biocrude, a liquid that is similar, in many ways, to petroleum.
It’s not the first time shitty fuel has been created, either. Korean engineers developed a gnarly strain of E. Coli that creates gasoline in 2013 and in March 2016, UCLA scientists said they legit want to use your steaming turds to power cars.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory report estimates that every person could produce between 7 and 12 litres of biocrude each year. We’re not sure if you’ll ever be straight up shitting into your fuel tank, but hey, two birds, one stone.
Sure, shitting liquid gold is an exciting prospect, but biofuel is still a fossil fuel, which is not ideal when you consider global warming. We should probably work on not completely ruining our entire planet before we keep studying poop-fuel.
Source: Gizmodo.
Photo: South Park.
