Can one generate electricity from septic waste?

Question

Can one generate electricity from septic waste?

Answer 1

Probably not cost effective. Think of how much poo you create in one day... maybe one or two pounds. That might generate a tenth of a liter of methane. Enough to make lighting a fart look cool, but not enough to make a practical heating system. And as far as making electricity... heck no! An average industrial boiler is about 30% energy efficient. (and that is good for a heat engine! a car is around 19%)



San Francisco does have a machine that they use to turn food waste into methane. Basically it does mechanically what your body does in the intestine. They did an episode on "Dirty Jobs" about it.

Answer 2

There probably wouldn't be enouph methane to keep a generator going for a long period of time so you would probably have to get a flamible gas pump and a holding tank so you could collect enouph gas to run the generator for a period of time that would be worth it.

You may also have to buy bacteria that is more efficient in creating methane since in a septic tank there is alot of other bacteria that create othergases like co2.

You may get enouph gas to provide suplimental heating in the winter.

I think however that this would be quite costly to do. I really hope it would be possible good luck!

Answer 3

You could, but it would end up costing alot more than buying power from the power company. You're too small to be cost-effective.

Answer 4

No, you really couldn't design a cost-efficient way of generating electricy from family septic.



If you want to save energy, go solar. There are dozens of tried and true ways to supplement your home system with solar-thermal powered appliances. Our water is heated in the roof, in black tubes.



I divert the water that drains from my washing machine to the garden. We use environmentally friendly methods/detergent to wash our clothes, and my garden is nice and green. Also, I don't have a lot of pests... Don't know why, exactly.



We compost all of our food waste, and recycle almost all of our "garbage." We generate less than one full bag of trash per week, in a family of three.



Turn the thermostat down three degrees in the winter, and up three in the summer, from what you're used to. Your body will adjust quickly.



It saves on the utility bills.



If you use a dishwasher, turn off the heated drying feature.



If you use a clothes dryer, smaller loads dry much faster. If you split a large load in half, it will probably dry faster in two batches than one. (If your dryer has an automatic more-dry setting.) Make sure it's vented properly and the lint traps are clean, or you'll waste energy. Clean your lint trap with mild detergent and warm water every other month. Fabric softener builds up and prevents adequate ventilation.



Sorry to write so long...

Answer 5

It is possible to run an engine on methane, and it is possible to make methane from sewage, but the practical difficulties of putting a system together that generated electricity would be daunting to say the least. It would probably be a maintenance nightmare. Also, I am not sure how much methane you can really make from the sewage of one family. Much easier to just use the methane like you do any natural gas; for cooking and heating. That would be a much simpler system. Start with that and work up to running an engine.