Waste to Energy -- An Overview

See http://peswiki.com/index.php/Video:Waste_to_Energy_--_An_Overview

The saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is coming true in the waste-to-energy field. With some landfills overflowing, much real estate at a premium, groundwater and air pollution concerns, and fossil fuel scarcity concerns; methods of turning refuse into fuel or electricity are attractive for many reasons.

Who would have ever thought that junk and sewage could be cost-effectively turned into a valuable commodity? It turns out that there are several approaches being developed -- and even some already in commercial operation -- that, with tipping fees, can turn a profit from turning garbage and sewage into electricity and fuel.

According to their Vice President, Lynn Brown, Waste Management, the company the comes around to haul off garbage, is increasingly turning some of that garbage into energy -- enough to power over one million homes -- the equivalent of 14 million barrels of oil per year or 3.6 million tons of coal. And the company has a goal to double that amount to 2 million homes by 2020. (http://www.wm.com/thinkgreen)

Some landfills now capture the methane that comes out of the buried trash, which used to escape into the atmosphere as a potent greenhouse gas. Instead, they now burn this methane to run generators. Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation (SHEC Labs) has developed a process that uses solar energy to convert this methane into hydrogen, and expect that within 5 years they will compete with the cheapest sources of Hydrogen. ( http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Solar_Hydrogen_Energy_Corporation_(SHE... )

One approach being pursued by several companies is to turn the incoming waste into plasma through a high intensity electrical arc. In the plasma state, the inflow is broken down to its elemental components -- individual atoms. What comes out is a burnable gas and an inert solid that can be used for things like pavement, bricks, and other building materials. Starting out, they are targeting medical waste because of its high tipping fees. ( http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Plasma)

Green Power Inc has developed a method of inexpensively converting biomass and municipal waste into high quality diesel fuel, solving the world's energy and waste problems at the same time, without upsetting the CO2 balance.

We consider waste for energy technologies to fit the "free energy" mold. Waste is an inexhaustible or renewable energy source that will be around as long as there are humans. All trash can be recycled into something useful. Within a generation, we may begin to see home-based devices that turn your personal garbage into energy, right in the comfort of your home. It's Back to the Future in its infant stages.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Landfill
• Trash
• Waste
• electricity
• power
• energy
• garbage
• trash
• sewage
• refuse
• Joseph
• Riso

[Zer0PointUnlimited]

Poo to Fuel, I like it!

[SquishDoll]

Profit?

I work for an org that thinks very differently. They are prepared to lose money -just lost big last week to keep 20-tons of toys from landfill, though it would have been much less money to landfill them- if it means making the right choice. They lead by example and in the end, we can sleep well at night knowing we did everything possible to be environmentally responsible...

[AmazinglyAgnostic]

I wonder how brick and concrete are made from this?

[aerogent87]

yea right that'll never happen have machine in your home that turns waste into fuel. And if it does they'll just find another way take your money.

[rodolfosevero007]

Mr. Fusion = Classic

[Darkwizzrobe]

Hmm why don't they also use incineration as a form of waste to energy it seems faster than to wait for the waste to rot.

[SquishDoll]

I also agree but, I am just getting tired of all the red tape and government agencies that are supposedly protecting the environment yet in reality they only charge fees that go to other things!

Very simple, if you create it, you should be responsible for it...

If you are "responsible" for what you created in the first place, no matter if it makes you money to deal with it, at that point you created it and you should be responsible for it, just part of the cost of doing business...

[ghandiwon]

I agree completely, but that is political. In order to become a large corporation, you must be less emotionally minding and more logically minded. Of course I admit that the "almighty dollar" is more important to COMPANIES out to make money. I'm not saying it right, it just happens to be the best way to be successful.

Our government could care less about the environment unless they will see more in their pockets at the end of the day. That's why all they all say one thing but do another.

[SquishDoll]

So many organizations and companies say they are green but very few lead by example!

Funny, the government hands out big grants all day to study things likes weeds yet landfilling overrun products and 2nd hand store donations ect. continues to be the most cost effective choice!

Lets see some grants to support small independent recycling and reuse organizations!