Weird Science

Going to an even cruder source (in every sense of the expression), Yanhui Zhang, a researcher at the University of Illinois, is using similar technology to convert pig manure into a form of crude oil. It can be refined to heat homes, run electrical plants or make plastics, ink or asphalt.


Existing oil refineries aren't currently set up to process pig manure-derived oil, however. Zhang has successfully produced pig crude in small batches, but additional research is needed to make the system economically viable. (And we can just imagine the challenges involved in marketing a swine-derived fuel source to consumers.) Zhang predicts that a reactor the size of a home furnace could eventually process 2,000 pigs' worth of manure at a cost of about $10 per barrel.


One of the catch phrases of the 21st century is renewal resources. We will never be at a loss for waste products, so converting these wastes into fuels is tantamount to killing two birds, or rather turkeys, with one stone.