Project Park Spark, which was funded through MIT and created in partnership with the City of Cambridge, comprises of a special “methane digester” that converts freshly scooped poop into methane.

Dog owners collect their dog waste in a special biodegradable bag and throw it into the digester – an air-tight cylindrical container, where the dog faeces are broken down by anaerobic bacteria. A byproduct from that process is methane which can then be released through a valve and burnt as fuel. In this case it is being used to power an old-fashioned gas-burning lamppost in a park.

The artist is keen to make sure that the energy is used as the community wishes, and so in the next couple of weeks the Park Spark project will be a holding a number of design meetings to gather ideas from the community for how to best use the flame. — suggestions already include a shadow projection box, a popcorn stand and a tea house.

Currently when organic material (including dog waste, food, and plant matter) goes into landfill it releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is approximate 23 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.

When it’s burned in the presence of oxygen, it separates into carbon dioxide and water vapour, so businesses can actually earn carbon credits from burning off excess methane. As a result, the digesters are a good way to collect and use the volatile gas as a fuel.

In the future Mazzotta hopes to install permanent underground digesters in parks throughout the US.

Image: Park Spark Project.

See Also:

• Tiny Flower Turns Pig Poop into Fuel
• Methane May Be Building Under Antarctic Ice
• Plants Produce Methane? That’s So 2006

Authors: Olivia Solon

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