Human waste as fuel

Dried human waste could be the next big business opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as helping to flush out the problem of poor sanitation, according to a start-up in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Waste Enterprisers believes the "faecal sludge" found in pit latrines and septic tanks could be used as industrial fuel in place of imported coal and other biofuels. 

The company's CEO, Dr Ashley Muspratt, said that dried waste has been shown to burn at least as well as coffee husks and palm nut shells in tests. Unlike these more common biofuels, there is a plentiful local supply of sewage all year round. 

"I like to talk about what we're doing as replacing [sewage] treatment plants with factories. When you talk about factories you're talking about bringing in a raw material and putting out a value-added product," Dr Muspratt said. 

A pile of dried sludge in Kampala (Moritz Gold / SANDEC)