The Mad Science Plan To Power The World With Poop

Ddiba says that there has been an uptick in poop-based waste-to-energy schemes in the past decade or so.

For example, Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation recently signed a memorandum of understanding with global non-profit group, Water For People, to turn the faecal sludge in the treatment plants in Kampala into combustible briquettes. A similar scheme can be found in neighbouring Kenya, where faecal matter is dried and turned into a charcoal-like fuel source for cooking and heating.

Also in Kampala, a biogas-producing wastewater plant is expected to treat around 12 million gallons of wastewater daily and generate over 630 kilowatts of energy—enough to power 530 US households—as a result. Ddiba expects it to do well, financially speaking, as it relies on water tariffs and follows a business model similar to European utilities that also produce biogas.

“This is something more African cities will start to experiment with in the future,” says Ddiba.