Scientists reported that they have created a method for processing sewage waste into a biodegradable oil product. In other words, if we ultimately fail with electric cars, and oil in the natural environment still runs out, then our future in the truest sense of the word will be in shit.
According to a report from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, researchers converted the feces into oil using a hydrothermal liquefaction process. Scientists say the process “mimics the natural geologic features our planet uses to create crude oil. We are talking about the required high pressure and temperature, which can be artificially created in a matter of minutes, and not the millions of years that Mother Nature needs."
Literally, scientists heated feces to 343 degrees Celsius and drove them through special tubes with a pressure of 1390 kg / m2. The result is a liquid substance - "bio-oil", which shares many properties with ordinary gasoline.
It should be noted that this is not the first time that scientists have proposed a method for converting waste products into fuel. In 2013, scientists at the University of Exeter created a strain of a special bacterium, E. coli, which can produce gasoline as its waste material. In March this year, scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles said they were going to develop a way to use feces as fuel for cars.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory estimates that the average person - like you and me - is capable of producing between 9 and 13 liters of "bio-oil" per year.
In general, it is very encouraging that science has finally found a way to use faeces beneficially. True, our future in this case will still be in shit. Because the resulting product is still considered fossil fuel, and therefore, it will not solve the problem of global warming.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK
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