But you'll hear how one Asian city is putting this innovative concept to the test on today's EnvironMinute. In cities around the world, disposing of sewage is a problem. It's actually the sludge the solids in sewage that create the difficulty. Now officials in Yokohama, Japan, are trying a new system that transforms sludge into clean energy.
Bacteria digest the sludge to produce methane gas.
The methane is then used to produce hydrogen, which in turn is used to power fuel cells to generate electricity. The new disposal system has produced enough power to serve about 100 homes for more than a month, and it produces less pollution than many other ways of generating electricity. Yokohama may have come up with a clean solution to several dirty problems. The EnvironMinute is produced in cooperation with the National Safety Council and made possible by the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Foundation.