William Brinton is president of Woods End Laboratories, Inc., a Maine company that specializes in analysis of compost and other waste. He told Animal Planet News that he supports San Francisco's animal waste to energy conversion goals. Biogas is already being produced and used in several European countries, on farms in the United States and Canada, and in third world countries.

"Often third world users just put animal waste in plastic bags that are placed into holes in the ground," Brinton said. "Straws or tubing poked into the bags divert the gas into homes. You can then light the gas and there's your heat."

Brinton said ground limestone, buffering agents or acids "to kick the natural process up a notch" can be added to methane digesters, which may also be temperature-controlled to speed up the process. Dung digesting occurs faster in a warm environment.

"What's wonderful about dog manure is that it is very high in energy because of the rich diets we feed our pets," Brinton said. "We anticipate that it will yield as much energy as food scraps, which can produce $20 to $30 of energy per ton of waste."

As for the odor associated with dog doo, Brinton assures there is no need for nose plugs.

"The resulting gas does not have much smell," he said. "Sometimes there is a slight egg-like sour odor in the containerized process, but this can be easily filtered out."

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