Renewable Energy for Dog Parks

In many parts of the world, people use animal waste in methane digesters to cook. On large farms and ranches, feedstock provides enough waste to make a biogas digester a cost effective way to generate power. And at the Pacific Street Dog Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Matthew Mazzotta successfully created the Park Spark poop converter system that can generate enough energy from animal waste to a power a gas lantern in one corner of the Pacific Street Dog Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pictured: A local resident admires Mazzotta's handiwork.

(Media credit/Luke Ryan via Flickr)

After Mazzotta spent time in India, he saw potential in using a system similar to India’s “methane congesters” to lessen how parks contribute to landfills. With a $4,000 grant from the Massachusetts Institute of Techology (MIT), where he earned a master’s degree in visual studies, he set up two steel 500-gallon oil tanks. The tanks, which are anaerobic digesters for biodegradable waste, are connected and attached to the lantern. By using biodegradable bags, dog-owners can turn a wheel and agitate the microbes of the waste enough to give off methane gas, thereby powering the lamp. Because the process is carbon neutral, no new greenhouse gases are let off into the atmosphere.

Though the installment is has been dismantled since its one-month run, the concept shows there are energy sources all around us. Hopefully, in the future, similar technology can become cost-effective for individuals to utilize. With innovation and a willingness to consider alternatives, Mazzotta has illuminated how we may reduce landfill waste and reduce our carbon footprint.

CONTACTS: The Park Spark Project, www.parksparkproject.com; The Huffington Post, www.huffingtonpost.com

Information sourced from E- The Environmental Magazine