Using methane extracted from cow dung as fuel: a Japanese start-up aerospace company successfully tested a rocket engine prototype

CTOnews.com, December 10 (Agence France-Presse)-Japan's aerospace industry turned a "new page" on Thursday: Interstellar Technologies, a start-up, successfully tested a prototype rocket engine that uses rich local resources as fuel: cow dung.

▲ shows an article published by Agence France-Presse in Barron Weekly, and according to Takahiro Inagawa, CEO of the company, the "liquid biological methane" (LBM) needed for rocket engines is made entirely of gas produced by cow dung from two local dairy farms. "We do this not only because it is good for the environment, but also because it can be produced locally and is very cost-effective," he said in an interview. "

It said it was a high-performance, high-purity fuel and thought it would be "no exaggeration" to promote it around the world. "We are the first private company to do so."

Air Water, an industrial gas producer that works with Interstellar, is reported to be working with local farmers whose farms have equipment to process cow dung into biogas, which Air Water collects and converts into rocket fuel.

As previously reported by CTOnews.com, Air Water Hokkaido has been working to establish a local recycling supply chain in Hokkaido, processing biogas from livestock manure into LBM, an alternative fuel for liquefied natural gas (LNG), for local consumption.

Air Water Hokkaido established Japan's first LBM manufacturing plant in October last year and is conducting demonstration experiments to supply fuel to food factories, LNG trucks, ships, etc.

▲ source Interstellar official website