# Poop-powered prison **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848 "2005-07-17T00:28:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/1 "2005-07-17T00:28:19Z")
[http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68127,00.html](http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68127,00.html) “Human Feces Powers Rwandan Prison” “Imagine eating food that was cooked using natural gas generated from your own human waste. Thousands of prisoners in Rwanda don’t have to imagine it – they live it.” ---
**Author:** ![whatsittoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@whatsittoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatsittoya)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/2 "2005-07-17T03:21:49Z")
It seems like a reasonable idea. Pretty much any sewer treatment gives off methane as I understand it, this keeps the methane out of the air, keeps wood smoke out of the air, keeps raw sewage out of the water, and possibly keeps a few more trees standing. Properly processed methane should be stink free and bug free as well. The solids could be a bit more problematic because humans are susceptible to many bugs in human waste but as long as they keep the quality control up thats perfectly safe too. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/3 "2005-07-17T03:35:44Z")
I wonder if it would be possible to formulate a diet for the prisoners that maximizes fuel production potential? Any (serious) ideas on what could be done? What is it in the waste that breaks down? ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/4 "2005-07-17T05:43:18Z")
Huh. Damned good idea, and talk about a renewable resource! ---
**Author:** ![whatsittoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@whatsittoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatsittoya)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/5 "2005-07-17T18:45:43Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I wonder if it would be possible to formulate a diet for the prisoners that maximizes fuel production potential? Any (serious) ideas on what could be done? What is it in the waste that breaks down? Well one answer would seem to be grass I suppose [link](http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/gg99rpt/methane.html) > [@](#): > > Because cattle account for about 95 percent of all emissions from enteric fermentation… Quote from about 3/4 of the way down the page. I am not sure how easy it would be to get prisoners to eat grass and I am gonna go out on a limb and say that the extra bacteria in the cattles intestinal track is what makes that work. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/6 "2005-07-17T19:11:03Z")
Well, IME, whole grain cereal seems to maximize energy production. I guess as long as none of the prisoners are allowed matches or a lighter it would be okay. Otherwise, they could devise a blowtorch to cut the cell bars. :farty smiley: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/7 "2005-07-17T19:15:26Z")
> [@whatsittoya](#): > > Well one answer would seem to be grass I suppose [link](http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/gg99rpt/methane.html) > > Quote from about 3/4 of the way down the page. > > I am not sure how easy it would be to get prisoners to eat grass and I am gonna go out on a limb and say that the extra bacteria in the cattles intestinal track is what makes that work. If all those emissions are burps and farts, that won’t help power the prison, unless the prisoners walk around with _Dune_-fremen type suits to collect the gaseous emission. ---
**Author:** ![whatsittoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@whatsittoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatsittoya)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/8 "2005-07-17T19:57:33Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > If all those emissions are burps and farts, that won’t help power the prison, unless the prisoners walk around with _Dune_-fremen type suits to collect the gaseous emission. I wonder what the efficiency would be to emulating a cows stomach to turn grass into methane and fertilizer. You would then use the gas and put the fertilizer back into the field and repeat. I wonder if it could compare to other biofuel methods. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/9 "2005-07-17T20:47:48Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > I wonder if it would be possible to formulate a diet for the prisoners that maximizes fuel production potential? Any (serious) ideas on what could be done? What is it in the waste that breaks down? Don’t forget, the food that will become “fuel” is also the food you’re cooking with that “fuel.” So you’ll want something that doesn’t take much energy to cook, _and_ that will generate a lot of human waste. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/10 "2005-07-18T18:12:21Z")
This gives a whole new meaning to that age old piece of bathroom wall wisdom: Flush twice, it’s a long way to the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-powered-prison/312848/11 "2005-07-18T18:39:57Z")
Those of you who are interested in this subject might find [this](http://www.mnproject.org/programs/energy_sub/farmbased_sub/haubenschild.htm) project interesting as well. The Haubenschild dairy farm uses a manure digester to produce methane gas, which generates electricity for the dairy and about 80 homes. I heard the owner speak at a forum on renewable energy earlier this year, and he said one day’s manure creates the same amount of energy as one barrel of oil. Those of you who have been watching Morgan Spurlock’s “30 Days” may remember this farm being mentioned in last week’s episode, when they talked about the Dancing Rabbits using “humanure.”