Zoo Plans to Harness Power of 400 Tons of Poo: How to Help

Manure produced by the animals at the Detroit Zoo would be converted to energy to help power the animal hospital under a proposal to build a “biodigester.” A crowdfunding campaign has been established to raise matching funds for a state grant. (Photo via Detroit Zoo Facebook page.)

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The math is fairly astounding when you figure the amount of poo (400 tons) produced annually by the animals in the Detroit Zoo’s vast collection – and how all that waste could be turned into money.

The zoo and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation have launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Patroncity site to raise $55,000 to build a system called a “biodigester” that turns the manure into biogas, according to a news release.

The state has promised the zoo one of its Public Spaces Community Places grants, but only if it can raise the matching funds by mid-June.

Zoo officials estimate the biodigester will result in an annual energy savings of between $70,000 and $80,000 at the 18,000-square-foot Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex. They hope to have it operational by 2016.

The biodigester uses an anaerobic process to turn the animal manure and other organic waste into a methane-rich biogas. The technology is used primarily on large dairy farming operations, but would become the first such system in operation at a zoo anywhere in America, according to a project description on the crowdfunding site.

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The project is part of a broader zoo initiative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity and natural gas use by 20 percent below 2009 baseline levels by the end of 2015, and to become an entirely zero-waste by 2020.

These and other continuous efforts in sustainability earned the Detroit Zoological Society the 2014 Green Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The system will also convert manure into compost that will be used to fertilize animal habitats, gardens and public spaces throughout the 125-acre Zoo.

About $1,400 had been raised by mid-afternoon Monday.

Learn more about the project in the video below.