4 ms·

I’m curious what moped km per day one could generate with human waste, food and yard scraps.

• toomanybeersies 5y ago
  Here's my rough estimation: Anaerobic digestion of food and green waste yields ~0.22 toe/tonne of biogas, and manure yields up to 0.04 toe/tonne [1]. (toe = tonnes of oil equivalent) Australia wastes 300 kg/year/capita of food [2] (across the entire supply chain, from farm through fork) Americans generate 90 kg/year/capita of yard waste [3] That's 1.07 kg/day, for 0.24 kg of oil equiv. The average adult produces ~0.4 kg/day of manure [4], for 0.02 kg of oil equiv. All up that's 0.26 kgoe/day, or 0.3 L [5] of petrol. The most efficient scooter I could find (Honda Activa-i) does around 70 km/L (165 mpg) So optimistically, you could generate 21 moped kilometers per day of biogas. In more normal units, that 3 kW/h or 11 MJ. [1] https://www.iea.org/reports/outlook-for-biogas-and-biomethane-prospects-for-organic-growth/sustainable-supply-potential-and-costs https://www.iea.org/reports/outlook-for-biogas-and-biomethan... [2] https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste/food-waste https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste/food-waste [3] https://www.waste360.com/mag/waste_yard_waste_4 https://www.waste360.com/mag/waste_yard_waste_4 [4] https://www.emedicinehealth.com/ask_how_much_does_poop_weigh_in_your_body/article_em.htm https://www.emedicinehealth.com/ask_how_much_does_poop_weigh... [5] 1 kgoe = 1.16 L of petrol
  • ada1981 5y ago
    This is actually pretty amazing. One could commute to and from work and it would be arguably greener than solar or wind.