TOKYO - Scientists in energy-poor Japan said Friday 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.
"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.
