The Rosamond Gifford Zoo zoo is studying how feasible it would be to produce energy from animal waste to reduce its annual 400-thousand-dollar heating and electricity bill.

Especially promising are the piles produced by its pachyderms. Officials say the zoo's six elephants produce more than one-thousand pounds of dung daily.

The zoo sends most of its animal waste to a local farm for composting, and also spends about ten-thousand dollars a year on animal-waste disposal.

A number of farms have used animal waste to produce power. Depending on the process, the waste could be used to produce methane or hydrogen for powering a fuel cell or generator.

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