# Using Feces for Fuel - how could people stand it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 19, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300 "2012-04-19T18:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/41 "2012-04-21T02:23:09Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Herbivore dung (ever taken a good look at horse poop?) can have quite a bit of un- or partially digested plant matter in it. That helps make it a good fuel. If it’s the plant matter that makes it a good fuel, why not collect plant matter to burn? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/42 "2012-04-21T02:28:56Z")
Plus, it comes out round and compact. How much easier could it be? Q ---
**Author:** ![MaltLiquor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MaltLiquor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaltLiquor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/43 "2012-04-21T02:33:12Z")
Green plant material that herbivores typically eat would not burn, if you dried it out it would burn really well, for about five to ten seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/44 "2012-04-21T02:36:50Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > If it’s the plant matter that makes it a good fuel, why not collect plant matter to burn? We do already. In Germany, Rapeseed is sown and harvested for many things, including fuel. I think you may be thinking on a larger scale, **Antigen** , right? I admit I don’t know what other plants would make a good source of fuel, but if we’re already looking for oil in _sand_, what does that tell us? Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/45 "2012-04-21T02:45:45Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > If it’s the plant matter that makes it a good fuel, why not collect plant matter to burn? Because it is less work to let the animals collect the plant matter and compress it into slow burning lumps. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/46 "2012-04-21T17:49:38Z")
I don’t know, maybe those of you who are around horse shit all the time think it’s fine…I think it’s all pretty gross myself. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/47 "2012-04-21T19:47:20Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Small ruminants like sheep and goats have pelleted feces that are very hard to collect in any useful quantity. > > Herbivore feces don’t smell bad at all. That isn’t true in forced mass confinement like feedlots, though. > > Worst smelling domestic animal poo in my opinion would be ducks (not strictly poo as there is only one product), and pigs. Pigs is bad. > I am also not a big fan of cat urine. But that’s off topic. We have not yet been reduced to burning cat urine for fuel. Burning cat pee is bad, really, really bad. I know this because of a cat that peed on the (cold) electric fire. The smell once it was turned back on – at breakfast time, when we were all getting ready for school/work – was unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Eel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/977dab/32.png) [@Old\_Eel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Eel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/48 "2012-04-21T19:55:56Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > If it’s the plant matter that makes it a good fuel, why not collect plant matter to burn? Because this way your cow gets nutrition and you have fuel. Also, cow dung is easier to collect than firewood, which can often be far away from the village or group, and it’s a renewable resource. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/49 "2012-04-23T07:43:21Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > If it’s the plant matter that makes it a good fuel, why not collect plant matter to burn? Then what would the animals eat you need for transport and work (horses, camels)? And as mentioned it’s too wet. (You can see how animals are adapted to dry areas when they produce dry shit like horses and camels, compared to cows who make wet shit because they live in moist areas). It’s also much more simple and economical to collect the waste from your animals (which are nearby anyway) then run around a barren steppe trying to collect dry twigs or a few bushels of hardy grass. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300/50 "2012-04-23T07:44:31Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > We do already. In Germany, Rapeseed is sown and harvested for many things, including fuel. That’s not really the same: it’s a plant that produces a lot of oil, the oil is then processed into bio-diesel. They are not cut off and thrown onto a fire, which the OP was thinking off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-feces-for-fuel-how-could-people-stand-it/619300.md?page=2)