DO NOT try to tell Oren Heatwole that chicken poop smells. "Total myth," he said before a colleague, eager to prove the point, scooped up a mulchy handful and inhaled deeply.
Heatwole, a former chicken farmer, might be biased. But he isn't the only fan of the stuff. Scientists at Virginia Tech are experimenting with technology that would convert what you might call an abundant resource here in the Shenandoah Valley into energy.
Virginia Tech has built a prototype chicken-waste-to-energy machine. Using a process called pyrolysis, the device super-heats the droppings to transform them into three products: an oil that can be used for heating, a slowrelease fertiliser and a gas that the researchers hope will one day be recycled to power the machine.
If successful, the project also will help reduce a source of pollution in Chesapeake Bay. Although the raw waste has long been recognised as a top-flotch fertiliser, if applied too heavily, it can flush into waterways and eventually the bay. That has led to severe restrictions on its use.
It will be at least two years before the technology is perfected and the unit - now built for about US$1 rail (RM3.6mil) - is affordable for the average poultry farmer, said Foster Agblevor, the Virginia Tech professor in charge of the project.
No comments:
Post a Comment