the humanure handbook 2nd edition merely mentions "asia" where this has been going on for a long time, wikipedia suggests singapore, china, japan, hong kong as well as other parts of the world at large. used as nightsoil it is collected and dumped on the fields as people have done with cow manure for example. the horrible stench and health risks this introduces do not exist with proper composting.
the book goes on more specifically that parts of china, japan and south korea have started collecting the human refuse and composting it in green belts around larger cities. as well as taiwan where it is used to grow algae.
using uncomposted human refuse for food crops can harbor some real dangers (because of the absence of the pathogen-destroying heating phase of regular humanure composting). but even without the heat most if not all dangerous agents in humanure are destroyed given enough time before putting it to use in the garden. it basically has to become soil again first.
humanure compost requires that urine be included, simply for the moisture. the extra nitrogen urine introduces to the compost is helpful but could just as well be gotten a different way (by adding extra garden greens or more food scraps).
but since the important processes in the compost require certain conditions it is a good idea to include urine in the compost pile to avoid adding too much water manually.
but i am getting ahead of myself, that should come up in part two of the actual series ;)
Interesting, thank you.
You really are digging the topic. I am curious when it is to get from theory to practice and what your outcomes will be like, once you can get your hands "dirty" ;)
Any progress in searching a property?
thankfully yes!
there are four more weeks to wait until we can meet the owners and talk details, they are abroad and only come for holidays.
maybe this time it will be the right fit for everyone.
needless to say a humanure composting system will be among the first and highest priorities <3