Dog Poop Power - Dog Waste Powers Street Lantern
Smelly and is a danger to hikers from around the world, but it turns out dog poop has a bright side.
dog shit lit a lantern in a dog park in Cambridge, part of a month long project that its creator, artist Matthew Mazzotta, hopes will get people thinking about not wasting waste.
The "Park Spark" poop converter is actually two steel, 500 gallon tanks painted a golden yellow, connected by diagonal black tube attached to an old gaslight-style street lantern at the Pacific Park Street.
After the dogs do their business, signs on the tanks instruct owners to use biodegradable bags supplied on site to pick up the poop and deposit it into the left tank. People then turn a wheel to stir its insides, which contain waste and water. Microbes in the waste give off methane, an odorless gas that is fed by tanks of the lamp and burned. The park is small but has proven busy enough to ensure a steady supply of fuel.
Dog owner Lindsey Leason, a student at Harvard 29 years said she was everything to do shit in a new light as she watched her two dogs playing in the park.
"Since I have to pick up dog poop a lot, I think I prefer to be useful," Leason said.
The project was funded by a grant from the Council for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Mazzotta Arts holds a master's degree in visual studies last year $ 4,000.
The 33-year-old Mazzotta, who is not a dog owner, got the idea after visiting the park with a friend in 2009. Mazzotta had recently traveled to India and saw people with crap in so-called "methane digesters" to cook food. As he watched the park trash can fill with bags of shit, he told his friend: "In other countries, they use it."
A similar idea to use dog poop for power was raised in San Francisco about four years ago. But that idea fizzled in the bureaucracy of the city and because of concerns about safety, said the scientific environment Brinton, who worked with Mazzotta on Park Spark and was consulted in the draft San Francisco.
Cambridge Fire Chief Gerry Reardon had his own questions about "Park Spark", although vandalism or poor design inside the tank may cause leakage and how methane could be contained and safely evacuated. But robust construction Park Spark and safety features persuaded the fire department to give its approval, he said.
"We try to stay progressive here," Reardon said.
The draft Mazzotta brings welcome visual distraction to the park, which is surrounded by a bumpy road, a lot of bad completed and some buildings collapsed herbs. Dog owner Louisa Solano, 68, said she loves Park Spark, though she thought it was "a wonderful sculpture, you know, modern art", the first time she saw him.
The colors of shit converter, symmetry and clean lines are intentional dog, but Mazzotta said his greater artistic purpose is to make people think differently about the world around them, including seeing waste as a resource and best way to use the product free energy.
Exposure practical advantages are not lost on Mazzotta.
The combustion of methane, which is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, helps the environment, he said. And with dogs down tons of shit in cities around the world, we think the idea of using its untapped power is an attractive option.
Brinton, president laboratories Bretton End, Maine, which specializes in the development of biogas energy, said biogas from waste is a major source of energy available, and a new project like Mazzotta can highlight that.
Mazzotta said now that dream to start a dog poop energy business but focuses on the ideas behind Park Spark, which will be dismantled at the end of the month. For him, the dog poop device helps fill a need for clean energy and better waste disposal, and all people have to do is look around for food.
And be careful where you walk .......
Smelly and is a danger to hikers from around the world, but it turns out dog poop has a bright side.
dog shit lit a lantern in a dog park in Cambridge, part of a month long project that its creator, artist Matthew Mazzotta, hopes will get people thinking about not wasting waste.
The "Park Spark" poop converter is actually two steel, 500 gallon tanks painted a golden yellow, connected by diagonal black tube attached to an old gaslight-style street lantern at the Pacific Park Street.
After the dogs do their business, signs on the tanks instruct owners to use biodegradable bags supplied on site to pick up the poop and deposit it into the left tank. People then turn a wheel to stir its insides, which contain waste and water. Microbes in the waste give off methane, an odorless gas that is fed by tanks of the lamp and burned. The park is small but has proven busy enough to ensure a steady supply of fuel.
Dog owner Lindsey Leason, a student at Harvard 29 years said she was everything to do shit in a new light as she watched her two dogs playing in the park.
"Since I have to pick up dog poop a lot, I think I prefer to be useful," Leason said.
The project was funded by a grant from the Council for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Mazzotta Arts holds a master's degree in visual studies last year $ 4,000.
The 33-year-old Mazzotta, who is not a dog owner, got the idea after visiting the park with a friend in 2009. Mazzotta had recently traveled to India and saw people with crap in so-called "methane digesters" to cook food. As he watched the park trash can fill with bags of shit, he told his friend: "In other countries, they use it."
A similar idea to use dog poop for power was raised in San Francisco about four years ago. But that idea fizzled in the bureaucracy of the city and because of concerns about safety, said the scientific environment Brinton, who worked with Mazzotta on Park Spark and was consulted in the draft San Francisco.
Cambridge Fire Chief Gerry Reardon had his own questions about "Park Spark", although vandalism or poor design inside the tank may cause leakage and how methane could be contained and safely evacuated. But robust construction Park Spark and safety features persuaded the fire department to give its approval, he said.
"We try to stay progressive here," Reardon said.
The draft Mazzotta brings welcome visual distraction to the park, which is surrounded by a bumpy road, a lot of bad completed and some buildings collapsed herbs. Dog owner Louisa Solano, 68, said she loves Park Spark, though she thought it was "a wonderful sculpture, you know, modern art", the first time she saw him.
The colors of shit converter, symmetry and clean lines are intentional dog, but Mazzotta said his greater artistic purpose is to make people think differently about the world around them, including seeing waste as a resource and best way to use the product free energy.
Exposure practical advantages are not lost on Mazzotta.
The combustion of methane, which is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, helps the environment, he said. And with dogs down tons of shit in cities around the world, we think the idea of using its untapped power is an attractive option.
Brinton, president laboratories Bretton End, Maine, which specializes in the development of biogas energy, said biogas from waste is a major source of energy available, and a new project like Mazzotta can highlight that.
Mazzotta said now that dream to start a dog poop energy business but focuses on the ideas behind Park Spark, which will be dismantled at the end of the month. For him, the dog poop device helps fill a need for clean energy and better waste disposal, and all people have to do is look around for food.
And be careful where you walk .......