I had heard of Bergs in South Africa (mountains), Icebergs in the Antarctic, but not 'Fatbergs' under London .... there are apparently two differences between 'Ice' and 'Fat' Bergs.
How do I know this?
Well Britain's biggest ever "Fatberg" has just been removed from a Kingston (London) sewer .... it was the size of a bus and weighed 15 tonnes according to the water authority, and was composed of a nasty mixture of food fat combined in an unholy bond with wet wipes, condoms and other unmentionables. These 'Fatberg' are formed in drains under roads in major conurbations around the world.
1) One is made of water frozen into Ice and the other of sewer content bound together by fat deposits.
2) The Iceberg is 9/10th under water, while the Fatberg is fully submerged under sewage.
2) The Iceberg is 9/10th under water, while the Fatberg is fully submerged under sewage.
How do I know this?
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| London's Fatberg |
Well Britain's biggest ever "Fatberg" has just been removed from a Kingston (London) sewer .... it was the size of a bus and weighed 15 tonnes according to the water authority, and was composed of a nasty mixture of food fat combined in an unholy bond with wet wipes, condoms and other unmentionables. These 'Fatberg' are formed in drains under roads in major conurbations around the world.
The Thames Water board (and others), are warning of the dangers of "Fatbergs," saying that it was trying to spread the message of "bin it and don't block it" ..... this particular one has taken three weeks to clear, and they still have to repair the damage it caused underground. Apparently if left, if would eventually have led to raw sewage spurting out of manholes across the whole of the area.
Apparently, they have actually recycled the berg ..... its been turned into power station fuel.
It makes you shudder to think .... imagine having to clean up after that dam burst.
Apparently, they have actually recycled the berg ..... its been turned into power station fuel.
It makes you shudder to think .... imagine having to clean up after that dam burst.
I've seen these on various TV shows. The solution is obvious; collect it before it gets tipped down the drain. We're supposed to be clever but we constantly look for cures where prevention is always the better solution : With little refinement, old cooking fat could be powering public transport.
ReplyDeleteI think it does somewhere, but I can't recall where it is...
DeleteYou gentlemen (or ladies) may be both be thinking of something like this story.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Vegetable-oil-may-help-fuel-turbines-at-old-power-1745241.php
Biofuels Power Corp. in Houston are running a 9-megawatt generator that runs on refined waste vegetable oils at the Houston Clean Energy Park. Eventually the site will genrate as much as 50 megawatts of capacity, coming from a variety of fuels made by refining animal and vegetable products, called 'biodiesel'. One megawatt can power up to 800 homes.
There are undoubtedly other such plants around the world especially as the University of Minnesota estimates that the US produces about 2.7 billion pounds of yellow and brown grease per year, byproducts of the restaurant fry cookers and industrial processes, and that could be converted to about 350 million gallons of 'biodiesel'. The 11 billion pounds of lard, tallow and poultry fats the US produces might be good for 1 billion gallons or more of the basic 'biodiesal'.
I looked on the web and a search under 'biodiesel powered turbine' shows that this has really taken off.
Yep, that's essentially what I was thinking about. I must have read one of these stories sometime. Thanks for letting us know. Mr NoPc!
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