Human Waste to Biofuel

• Gewargis Garmoos
• Marvl Odeesh
• Eduardo Salgado
• Michael Stacy

Advisors: Betul Bilgin, PhD, Jerome Palmer

Fuel is one of the world’s most sought out resources. Fossil fuels are a limited resource, and therefore alternatives are needed. According to BP Amoco, three major sources of fossil fuels exist: coal, natural gas, and oil, which are expected to last up until the year 2130. This problem leads to high demand for renewable fuel. A great untapped renewable resource is biomass waste, and for the purpose of this project, human waste to biofuel.
The Human Waste to Biofuel method will not only provide the potential of a renewable resource, but it will also provide an infrastructure that will contribute to public health, which leads to the goal of this project. For the purpose of this project, Hydrothermal liquefaction method will be used.
The rough economics from aspen yield an ROI of 13.80% and an IRR of 21.86%, this gives a 6-year payback period at 8% interest. Assumptions were made that the aspen values were low, and separate ISBL was assumed at $30M. This gave a ROI of 8.94% an IRR of 17.40% and a payback period of 7-years.
With so many public health concerns present in less developed countries, and human waste being one of the major components of these issues, the goal is to create a better tomorrow for these areas. With the removal of possible waste contamination of the water supply, the result should result in a decrease in the 24.33% infant mortality rate, and an increase in the 53.46% available drinking water in Lagos.

See supporting documentation in the team’s Box drive.