Poo turned the lights on?

When people in north Lancashire flush the loo the lights glow a little bit brighter at the area's biggest sewage works at Stodday that treats sewage from the 100,000 people who live in Lancaster and Heysham. Engineers at the pant are using the 'poo power' to generate all the electricity that the treatment works needs - and any extra goes into the national grid.

Process controller Phil Smith

The power comes from a 500kW combined heat and power engine installed at the plant that runs on methane produced naturally as the sewage is broken down.

Site process controller, Phil Smith said, "We get 1,000 cubic metres of sludge a day into our works and that produces 40,000 cubic metres of gas a week which is enough fuel to make us self-sufficient and at the same time we're killing more nasty bugs than ever and meeting tough new regulations."