Dog faeces to be used to light street lamps

London, May 2 (IANS) A 41-year-old former banker in Britain has come up with a pioneering scheme where he aims to collect four tonnes of dog waste every day across just one county and then process the faeces to light street lamps.

Gary Downie has struck a deal with the local council to set up such waste processing stations around Flintshire, in north Wales, the Daily Mail reported.

The waste collected will be broken down by micro-organisms and turned into power, through a process called anaerobic digestion.

The dog waste would be thrown into an airtight "methane digester". The mixture would be stirred to help methane rise to the top of tank. After the tank fills up, a pipe brings the methane to a lamppost where it is burned.

Downie vowed to clean up the streets after he became fed up with pushing his baby's pram through pavements that were covered in dog faeces.

He has invested 10,000 pounds into designing the power stations with his business partner Christopher Dunn. They set up a company called StreetKleen.

He hopes to have the first waste bins in place in the county by July.

On the reasons behind the idea, he said his five-year-old chiled studies at Broughton Primary School, the teachers at the school have had to wipe dog mess off children's shoes.

Anaerobic digestion is a process in which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.