Gas Lights With a Fido ''Twist''

Environmentalists are going gaga for a street lamp in Cambridge, Mass., that is powered by dog poop. The lamp is located at a dog park and uses a device known as a methane digester. Folks whose dogs do their business there simply collect the poop in a plastic bag and put it in the device and turn a crank to help the methane in the tank rise up to the top so it can be piped to the gas-burning lamppost that is attached.

The lamp, a shining example of how humans can make use of an underutilized and perpetually renewable energy source -- feces -- is the brainchild of Matthew Mazzotta, a conceptual artist who studied at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who wanted to give back to the community.

Methane digesters are nothing new. Mazzotta says they are common in China, India and South America where they are used mostly with cow manure. Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases -- even more than carbon dioxide -- but when it burns [it] separates into water and carbon dioxide.

Mazzotta was inspired to create what is now called the "Park Spark Project" after a trip to India, where he first saw the devices. So he proposed the idea to Cambridge officials and after six months of discussion, got the OK. After that, he got a $4,000 grant from his alma mater.

In the next few weeks, Mazzotta will be gathering ideas on how to best use the flame. According to Wired.com, some of the suggestions already include a shadow-projection box, a popcorn stand and a tea house.

But what is happening in a dog park in Cambridge could become known as the "sh-t heard around the world."