Poo. This three letter word makes foreheads crease and bodies cringe. It’s gross, it stinks, but you might never have guessed that this small smelly beast can be used power an entire farm. Sound like something out of a sci-fi flick? Well, you better believe it’s more like a reality show. An article published in the February 2009 issue of Popular Mechanic describes this messy, yet eco-innovative procedure.

The chosen one is Shawn Saylor. This Pennsylvania farmer uses the 18,000 gallons of manure produced daily by his cows to power a generator on his farm. Once the waste hits the ground, it goes through an extensive 16-day digestion process before it can be converted to actual energy. The manure begins its journey by being stored in a 19,000 gallon tank. It then travels through a U-shaped pipe where it is digested with bacteria that break the waste into a biogas containing 65% methane. The gas that is produced drives a natural gas engine which propels a 130kW generator.

18,000 gallons of manure daily may sound like a tremendous amount of number 2, and it is. Last year this method produced 1.2 million kWh of electricity, enough to power the farm and several homes nearby. Saylor saved about $60,000 in utility bills- a hefty amount of savings.

On the same note, a University of Texas-Austin study calculated that there is about 1 billion tons of manure produced in the United States annually. This amount could generate about 88 billion kWh of electricity-enough to account for 2.4 percent of annual US consumption.

It’s time, America, to stop making disgusted faces at the mere thought of poo. Who knows? Maybe one day it will be used to power your home.