A Little Poo Goes a Long Way

So you're a research scientist and you're sitting in your lab trying to some up with "the next big thing." Then it hits you... poo. Well, the poo itself doesn't actually hit you, it's more like poo as a concept.

You think to yourself, "There are a whole lot of cows. They make a whole lot of poo. Wouldn't it be cool if we could get gasoline out of cow poo?" And thus begins the real-life scientific journey for some Japanese research scientists.

Sakae Shibusawa, an agriculture engineering professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said his team has successfully extracted .042 ounces of gasoline from every 3.5 ounces of cow dung by applying high pressure and heat...

The team hopes to improve the technology so that it can be used commercially within five years, Shibusawa said.

In related news, researchers at the state-run International Medical Center of Japan said they have succeeded, in co-operation with Sekisui Chemical Co, in making the smell of vanilla from cow dung.

Researcher Mayu Yamamoto said a one-hour heating and pressuring process allows cow feces to produce vanillin, the main component of the vanilla-bean extract.

The vanillin extracted from the feces could be used in products such as shampoo and aromatic candles but not in food, said Yamamoto.

Compared with usual vanilla, "this component is exactly the same, but it would be difficult for people to accept it in food, given the recent rules of disclosing the origins of ingredients," she said.

Noooo. Really? You don't think people want to eat Nilla Wafers flavored with cow dung? Hmm. How about shampoo - "Now scented with real poo scent."

Read all about the amazing power of poo HERE (gas poo) and HERE ('nilla poo).