Construction of the ZooShare Biogas Cooperative plant in Toronto will begin soon, and in 2012, excrement from Toronto Zoo animals like rhinos and bison along with food waste from a grocery retailer will produce 4 million kilowatt hours a year, enough energy to power 350 homes every day, for a year.

The process works when the waste and bacteria ferment and gas bubbles of methane come to the surface. The gas is captured and burned, producing energy.

In 2012, poop from animals like this rhino at the Toronto Zoo will be converted into energy. Photo credit: leander.canaris

For more information, see:
TheStar.com

The Toronto Zoo is planning to convert the feces from the animals at the zoo into energy.  The feces can be used to create methane, which can then be used to produce electricity.

In order to convert the feces into usable energy, the zoo must build a facility which would cost $13 million. By using the electricity produced by the facility and selling the excess electricity, zoo officials believe they can make their money back in five years.

For more info: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/15/zoo-poo.html