New York sources have stated that treated excrement from chickens, turkeys, and other poultry, when converted to combustible solid biomass fuel, could replace coal as a renewable energy source. According to a study, published in the journal Applied Energy, showed that treated poultry excrement could replace approximately 10 percent of the coal used in electricity generation, reducing greenhouse gases and providing an alternative energy source.
Meanwhile, it was stated that biomass accounts for 73% of renewable energy production worldwide, crops are grown for energy production burden land, water, and fertilizer resources. Further, the researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel noted that environmentally safe disposal of poultry excrement has become a significant problem.
Professor Amit Gross said Hydrochar is produced by heating wet biomass to a much lower temperature of up to 250 degrees Celsius under pressure using a process called hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). HTC mimics natural coal formation within several hours. "We found that poultry waste processed as hydrocarbons produce 24% higher net energy generation".
