Lifestyle

Get Excited: In The Very Near Future, We'll All Be Fueling Our Cars With Poop

by Kate Ryan
YouTube

If I told you, you could fuel your car with little more than plain old poop, you'd probably think I was full of sh*t. But according to UCLA scientists, poop-powered cars are totally possible.

In the search for creative new biofuels, UCLA grad student David Wernick and his colleagues realized, as a culture, we fail to utilize one of nature's greatest biofuels: poop. Human poop, animal poop, plant poop, Brangelina poop -- if it poops, it can power your car.

But how exactly? Wernick and his team have engineered a bacteria that breaks down the proteins in manure and converts them into alcohol biofuels and ammonia. Those byproducts can then serve as legitimate liquid fuel alternatives.

Obviously, this could be a game-changer when it comes to weaning us off fossil fuels. Converting poop to fuel would also significantly reduce the emission of harmful greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide and methane.

While reducing the amount of waste currently being dumped into the environment and providing a cleaner alternative (ironically) to gasoline, poop fuel seems like the ultimate win-win.

As of now, Wernick and his colleagues are working hard to perfect the process of turning manure into liquid gold, so you can look forward to filling up your Honda Civic with poop juice in the near future.

Watch the video below to get the full scoop on how to power your car with poop.

Citations: Poop-powered cars? Apparently it's a very real thing (Daily Dot)