From poo to power

I wrote a story the other day about a University of Kansas project to turn sewage sludge from human waste into fuel.

It's a pretty neat concept that is being tested at several locations around the country. Basically, the sludge is fed into an anaerobic digester that produces gas that can be further refined to power vehicles. The process also helps purify the leftover waste.

If the test works out, we could see such plants popping up all around the country, then around the world. The more we can do to convert our detritus into usable materials, the better job we're doing of completing the circle of life.

It's almost like something Native Americans would have done.

Innovative urban wind turbine hits close to home

This innovative wind turbine went up just days ago, only a few miles from my house.

A.L. Huber, a general contractor based in Overland Park, Ks., is demonstrating the feasibility of a new kind of wind turbine. The company's goal is to not only generate some power to run its business, but also to show potential customers how this sort of wingding can be applied in real life.

What's good about this wind turbine is that it can generate electricity at lower speeds than traditional wind turbines with blades. And it supposedly is less likely to kill birds. These two elements make it much more palatable in an urban environment.

The turbine is made by AES Wind. A.L. Huber partnered with KC-based architectural firm Burns & McDonnell to put up the turbine.

Here's a video of the installation.