Shit for the climate: researchers extract paraffin from human faeces
The company "Firefly Green Fuels" from the UK has succeeded in producing paraffin from sewage sludge. The process saves a lot of CO2 emissions.
The company "Firefly Green Fuels" specialises in the development of sustainable fuels. Researchers at the company have been able to produce a substance from faeces that is similar in chemical composition and consistency to crude oil. From this they obtained kerosene, which, according to experts at the German Aerospace Centre and Washington State University (USA), is almost identical to jet A1 paraffin, the main source of energy in aviation.
The paraffin produced from human waste can therefore be used as a sustainable fuel in aviation. Sustainable here means that a circular economy is created: The CO2 released does not remain in the atmosphere, but is reabsorbed by crops, eaten and ultimately turned back into paraffin.
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Human faeces are available in vast quantities
For sustainable fuels, the focus is on a production process with the lowest possible emissions. This is the only way to achieve a major advantage over fossil fuels.
In collaboration with Cranfield University, it was found that the production and use of poop paraffin releases around 90 per cent less CO2 than fossil paraffin.
Kerosene can also be produced from old chip fat or other waste. However, a lot of waste is needed to produce significant quantities of paraffin. For the Managing Director of "Firefly Green Fuels", James Hygate, faeces are therefore interesting: they are produced continuously and in large quantities, especially in urban areas. And one thing is clear: as long as there are people, there will also be human faeces.
In order to obtain enough paraffin for a passenger flight from London to New York, however, the faeces of around 10,000 people would be needed for an entire year. It is therefore not possible to completely replace fossil paraffin. Hygate assumes that the UK's entire sewage sludge could cover five per cent of the UK's paraffin requirements.
So as long as flying requires predominantly fossil fuels, it will remain a harmful endeavour.
Cover image: Nerksi/Shutterstock
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