February 26, 2006 6:41 AM

He's not my pet, he my four-legged methane generator

San Francisco examines power of dog droppings

SAN FRANCISCO - City officials are hoping to harness the power of dog doo. San Franciscans already recycle more than 60% of their garbage, but in this dog-friendly town, animal feces make up nearly 4% of residential waste, or 6,500 tons a year - nearly as much as disposable diapers, according to the city.

Sometimes, I look at Judge, our soon-to-approach-100lb. Labradoodle “puppy”, and then I look at the piles of dog $%!& in the back yard, and I have to wonder. First, I wonder who’s going to clean up the mess, but then I start wondering about the possibilities in having such a readily available and copious source of excrement. Surely, there has got to be a way to use all this dog $%!& to our advantage? Well, it looks like the good folks in Baghdad by the Bay (apologies to the late Herb Caen) are WAY ahead of me on this one. Yes, the waste generated by San Franciscans is as heavy on dog waste as it is on disposable diapers. This being America, you’d think someone could figure out a way to make some money, or at least put all of that dog $%!& to good use…and so someone did.

With two dogs, one of whom could well grow to be 90-100 pounds, you can imagine my excitement. Finally, a way to put all of this dog $%!& to some constructive use….

Within the next few months, Norcal Waste, a garbage hauling company that collects San Francisco’s trash, will begin a pilot program under which it will use biodegradable bags and dog-waste carts to pick up droppings at a popular dog park.

The droppings will be tossed into a contraption called a methane digester, which is basically a tank in which bacteria feed on feces for weeks to create methane gas.

The methane could then be piped directly to a gas stove, heater, turbine or anything else powered by natural gas. It can also be used to generate electricity.

Perhaps I could just buy myself a hybrid Lexus and help fuel it with Judge’s prodigious output. It sure beats the hell out of stepping in it, eh?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 26, 2006 6:41 AM.

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