Firm develops jet fuel made entirely from human poo

[rcjordan]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-67771640

Independent tests by international aviation regulators found it was nearly identical to standard fossil jet fuel.

[Brad]

Watch what happens when we switch to poo based jet fuel:

We will import poo from overseas because they can produce poo cheaper than we can so ... profit.

Suddenly there will be poo shortages due to supply chain, climate change, poo tanker ships getting hit with fans ... which will cause price increases far beyond inflation.

A poo cartel will be formed.

People will demand only free range, organic poo be used for jet fuel.

Elon Musk will jump in, start refining poo, call it X-Fuel, and once it catches on he'll figure out how to screw it up.

People will be unable to distinguish poo from the advertising flow.

[rcjordan]

>People will demand only free range, organic poo be used for jet fuel.

Bwwwwwaaaahahaha! Ain't that the truth!


> identical to standard fossil jet fuel

So, what's the net environmental impact of burning poo slurry in the upper atmosphere?

[Brad]

>environmental impact

I assume it's going to give off CO2 just like regular jet fuel which does not really solve the climate change worries at all.

[rcjordan]

>climate

Yes, but doesn't poo have its own major issues that could offset some or all of that?  Methane? Water pollution (here's looking at you, UK!).

Fun fact:  Some entity in Nevada just trucked theirs out into the desert and sprayed it on the ground.  I was on some NV backroads 25 years ago and was unlucky enough to cross through large areas of 'poo fields' with trucks actively spraying.

[ergophobe]

>> I assume it's going to give off CO2 just like regular jet fuel which does not really solve the climate change worries at all.

It's a question of life-cycle carbon costs. The carbon that is in the poo mostly came from the atmosphere, so unlike the stuff from thousands of feet under the ground, it does not ADD to carbon in the atmosphere. However, the process of turning poo into jet fuel is not 100% efficient. It still takes some fossil-fuel inputs like, for example, running the refinery and trucking it to airports. So the team's lifecycle analysis is that it reduces carbon emissions by 90%

>>People will demand only free range, organic poo be used for jet fuel.

Funny you should say that. On the one hand, you could imagine cruise ships pulling up and selling their poo rather than paying to have it taken away (assuming we reach Peak Poo and are worrying about poo shortages). Now, I discovered a problem here. The one cruise I took, I spent some of my time just sitting in places reading in quiet times when the ship was mostly dead. I started chatting up crew and found out that the lucky ones have jobs where they get to walk by windows during the day. But large portions of the crew (kitchen staff, for example) work in windowless spaces, eat in windowless spaces and sleep in windowless spaces. They are not allowed into public areas, which aside from the bridge and a few other areas are the only windowed areas of the ship. The prospect made me think I would go bonkers. I couldn't believe that crew does not have a single option for going out on a balcony or deck and getting even five minutes of fresh air in a day.

So I wrote a comment card and said, "I have enjoyed my first cruise, but I found out crew has no access to fresh air, outdoors or sunshine. When I shop for groceries, I refuse to buy eggs from chickens that are raised under those conditions. I will not be taking another cruise as long as the human staff are treated worse than the chickens that lay my eggs."

I was told the next day that my comment had gone viral among the crew and everyone had heard about it.

So, yes, I am going to demand that my jet fuel come from poo from genuine free-range human beings with at least 108 square feet of space and daily access to the outdoors if they want it. Just like my chickens get :-)