This year, some residents in Tampa, Florida, have been looking for poop. This is unlikely to be possible for city dwellers, but they need it for their new anaerobic biodigesters.
Louis: “So it's basically like a very advanced composting system.”
Shelby Lewis is the waste diversion and outreach director for the City of Tampa. The city received a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to provide these backyard systems to 100 residents, she said.
Each unit takes up about as much space as a picnic table. To install it, users add feces and water to create bacterial colonies.
Afterwards, they just add food scraps and the bacteria break them down.
This process creates a liquid fertilizer that people can use in their gardens, as well as cooking gas that they can use through a special stovetop burner that comes with the package.
Lewis: “So they can plug it into the system and cook it with the gases produced by the decomposition of the food.”
…replacing conventional natural gas with fossil fuels.
Online, people with backyard biodigesters are sharing tips and tricks for using the system, as well as their passion for repurposing food waste.
Lewis: “Really, the key is to take the waste out of the bin and put it to better, higher use.”
Report source: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media
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