IANS

Meckenbeuren, Germany, Jul 18: Patents are pending on Europe's first furnace fired entirely by soiled nappies, constructed for the Liebenau Foundation, an operator of rest homes in the south-west corner of Germany.

Nurses and carers at the handicapped and old people's homes are proud that every disposable diaper helps save a little fossil fuel.

"When this thing is running, we don't need any gas or oil in the building," said chief technician Marco Nauerz in the furnace room of the foundation's main site at Meckenbeuren near Lake Constance.

The 11-metre-high plant can consume 8 million diapers annually. By Nauerz' calculation, that means it can continuously eliminate the waste from 12,000 incontinent patients. There is no risk the supply will dry up.

Liebenau has already signed up 40 rest homes, some of which it owns and others run by other operators, as suppliers, and expects to double the number by the end of the year.

The diapers are packed in plastic sacks and arrive in airtight garbage trucks.

"You can't smell anything here, can you?" said Nauerz, showing the "fuel" shed, where extractor fans suck out any odours.

Nauerz, 55, and no stranger to diapers as a father of three, has gained a new respect for the soiled nappy through his work.

Engineers say they have average moisture content of 58 percent and can release as much energy as wet chopped wood. At 910 degrees Celsius, they burn in seconds. The foundation uses the energy to heat water in bathrooms and in its laundry to clean towels and sheets.