New York, NY – We flush it and it’s out of our lives. But does anyone give a you-know-what about our waste going to waste?
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“We do,” says Commissioner Cas Holloway of the City’s Department of Environmental Protection. “And what we’re trying to do is take what is pure waste and turn it into a valuable resource.”
The water from every toilet that flushes in the Rockaway section of Queens ends up at the Rockaway wastewater treatment plant. But instead of just being treated and dumped in the nearest waterway, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has bigger plans for that waste.
It’s part of a pilot program that converts human wastewater into fuel.
“Now we literally have the ability to make gasoline-grade fuel out of waste water,” Holloway said. “It’s an environmental benefit, and it would reduce energy costs for the agency.”
The experiment exposes wastewater to sunlight, causing photosynthesis. The algae that grows is shipped to a lab to be converted to biofuel.
If the technology works and proves cost efficient the city estimates it could power 2,800 cars a day on just 10 percent of the city’s waste stream.
I got a deal for my rich mayor. I’ll power my car with your waste & you power yours with mine.
I cant imagine cars running fine on the motzoei shabbos run, the remnants of the cholent…
They say the exhaust from cars running on fuel made from used cooking oil smells like french fries.
I wonder what kind of smell we can expect in the mayor’s plan.
Too bad the garbage that comes out of politicians mouths can’t be converted to fuel. Now that would make for energy independence.
more and more stupid ideas.
he needs a reality check
Hey commenters, not so quick. This idea may be fodder for some great discussion.
1. All adults in NYC must package waste for recycling. All disposable diapers must be wrapped for recycling. This will be regulated, taxed, and fines levied for violators. This will balance the budget.
2. All tourists will need to pay entry tax to NYC for arriving without the accoutrements for donating their waste to the city.
3. Upon entry to NYC (via bridges & tunnels, ports, airports, and bus-train terminals) one needs to provide residence documents that authorize one to enter, or else they could be detained, fined, or denied entry.
4. It will be interesting to note that there are no such laws for animals, who may excrete anywhere they wish (barring limited but unenforced cleanup laws).
5. The mayor, who succeeded in banning transfats will now engage in regulating diets so as to produce more methane in flatulence to harvest for auto fuel.
6. Constipation will become a crime, and physicians encountering such complaints will be required to report it.
7. Pay toilets will return to the city in a big way. In this campaign, the city will get you coming or going.
The fantasies are endless. Thanx.