Green Electricity from Poo

[pigletwillie]

Some of you know that I work as an electrician, normally based in a quarry but all over the place at the mo due to the economic situation.

Anyways, at present I am working at Beckton and Crossness water treatment works (They are each side of the Thames, close to the city) undertaking major modifications to an ash removal plant.

Its quite impressive really, the treated sludge is dried and burned with both plants producing around 20Mw of electricity between them, enough to serve around 14000 homes as well as the two plants.

As well as the green electricity, the resultant ash (its like grey talcum powder) is only 1/5th the volume of the slude and in the main is used in the manufacture of building products such as breeze blocks, pipes, tiles and the like.

As the old adage says, "where theres muck there's brass" and Green brass to boot.

[smallblueplanet]

Shouldn't that be 'brown electricity from poo'?

[Snadger]

I used to work in a power station and that same ash used to be tipped out at sea where it used to smother the coral and kelp beds. Glad to see they've found a better use for it now.

Wouldn't you think it could be used in the fertiliser industry? Or maybe there's too many heavy metals in it?

[pigletwillie]

I think a fair bit does go as a soil improver, it has no calorific value left in it at all but I bet it opens up that London clay very well.

[Glutton4...]

Would you send us a lorry load to north Essex, please?

Our soil is like concrete in the summer and toffee in the winter!

[wiccanlou]

ha pigletwillie snap i'm a sparx too, i would like to know more about this treatment facility as i am trying to educate myself more in the green alternatives for electricity

[Alice]

Fascinating Piglet. Every day's a school day on here. I mean that

[Mikey]

Is this why you've named yoursel pigletwille, cos you is always playing in the %!$".

[Flummery]

Interesting. I think getting rid of waste in a useful way is a big thing for the future.

[SlugLobber]

On a horsey forum I visit, people were experimenting with poo bricks, in woodstoves. Not much success, though, on account of the effort involved. I imagine a large scale operation would be very productive, though!

[jacob marley]

Just thinking how do they dry it out how much energy to dry it out is it a negative or so so just a question....jacob

[pigletwillie]

Once its up and running Jacob, the steam produced by burning the dried sludge, after it has gone through the turbine then dries the sludge ready to be burnt thus forming a continual cycle.

[janeyo]

We have a strawburning plant near us that supplies electricity. It's very agricultural round here so lots going spare. A chap who worked therehad a load of straw fall on him the other month and it killed him

Not sure which would be preferable, to be hit with heavy straw or heavy poo.

[jacob marley]

.
Not sure which would be preferable, to be hit with heavy straw or heavy poo.

If it had not been staw he would have right in the Kaki silartra aint used that word for a long time....jacob