Are you sure that's vanilla you smell?

[termyt]

Japanese make gasoline, fragrance from cattle dung

By Kozo Mizoguchi, The Associated Press

TOKYO — Scientists in energy-poor Japan say they have found a new source of gasoline — cattle dung.

Sakae Shibusawa, an agriculture engineering professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said his team has successfully extracted 1.4 milliliters (0.042 ounces) of gasoline from every 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of cow dung by applying high pressure and heat. (Photo gallery: This week in science)

"The new technology will be a boon for livestock breeders" to reduce the burden of disposing of large amounts of waste, Shibusawa said.

About 500,000 metric tons (551,155 U.S. tons) of cattle dung are produced each year in Japan, he said.

Gasoline extracted from cow dung is unheard of, said Tomiaki Tamura, an official of the Natural Resources and Energy Agency. Japan relies almost totally on imports for its oil and gasoline needs.

The team, helped by staff from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology near Tokyo, produced gasoline by adding several unspecified metal catalysts to the dung inside a container and applying a 30-atmosphere pressure and heat of up to 300 degrees Celsius (572 Fahrenheit), Shibusawa said. Details of the catalysts could not be disclosed, he added.

The team hopes to improve the technology so that it can be used commercially within five years, Shibusawa said.

In a separate experiment revealing another unusual business potential for cow dung, another group of researchers has successfully extracted an aromatic ingredient of vanilla from cattle dung, said Miki Tsuruta, a Sekisui Chemical Co. spokeswoman. The extracted ingredient, vanillin, can be used as fragrance in shampoo and candles, she said.

Tsuruta said the vanillin was extracted from a dung solution in a pressurized cooker in a project co-organized by a Japanese medical research institute.

A solution for our dependence on foriegn energy?

[mitsuki lover]

Gee if that was the case we should have tried it years ago!

[Nate]

I'm seeing commercials for this ethanol stuff made from corn, too. Who knows?

[Slater]

hmm... well actually, it's been long known that dung is a good source of energy, usually in the form of methane (duh). The gasoline thing sounds new tho, but I doubt it will go far... making 4% of an ounce for every 350% of ounce... It also looks like it takes more energy to produce it than what we would get in return.

[Kaligraphic]

As I recall, the Diesel engine was originally intended to run on peanut oil, and only adapted to the current petroleum-based fuel during the oil boom.

[Yumie]

Actually, I heard about this from a friend of mine who owns a farm. Seems to be true. It's an interesting prospect, although admittedly, it's a little gross. Getting gasoline splurted on your hands and clothes would take on a whole new meaning.

[Puritan]

I worked under a scientist this summer who was looking at using the Fischer-Tropsch process, developed by the Nazi's in WWII, to produce gasoline from either coal or other things. Probably alot more efficient than using cattle dung, and alot less fragrent as well. Plus you don't have to wait on the cows or clean up after them.

[mitsuki lover]

The only problem would be it would be harder to get to the coal and more dangerous as well.

[Lynx]

although admittedly, it's a little gross. Getting gasoline splurted on your hands and clothes would take on a whole new meaning.

yeah, but all the bacteria would far be dead with that kind of heat and pressure.

[termyt]

hmm... well actually, it's been long known that dung is a good source of energy, usually in the form of methane (duh). The gasoline thing sounds new tho, but I doubt it will go far... making 4% of an ounce for every 350% of ounce... It also looks like it takes more energy to produce it than what we would get in return.

One of those measurements is a weight, the other is a volume. They made 0.04 liquid ounces of gas from dung weighing 3.5 ounces. I was actually impressed that go that much gas out it. First of all, most of the dung would be of no value what so ever. Secondly, gasoline is a highly refined product. It takes roughly two gallons of crude oil to produce one gallon of gas. So, I think they ratio is pretty impressive.

They said Japan produces over 550,000 tons of manure a year. If my math is good, that’s about 1.5 million gallons of gas. I can only assume that the United States produces a lot more manure than Japan does – we have a lot more cows. Even so, the best we can do is probably only a drop in the bucket of our gas consumption.

The only problem would be it would be harder to get to the coal and more dangerous as well.

Coal mining is dangerous with the current environmental regulations, but coal is extremely plentiful – especially here in the US. So it would be a good source, too.

[Uriah]

O_o...