A Washington-based company called Green Power claims it can turn household waste and medical waste into diesel for US$0.52-0.58/gallon.
According to FarmOnline the company thrilled spectators with a demonstration in Washington on 26th July witnessed by government officials, oil refinery, corporate and other representatives using a process called catalytic depolymerization.
Is this a new or improved technology or just a variation of what is already happening in Philadelphia where Changing World Technologies (CWT) have a pilot plant?
What are the limitations and opportunties from this technology?
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
This article provides some food for thought.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003154976_greenpower27.html
Even if the technology works as advertised, including the cost of the resulting fuel, it’s difficult to imagine that there is enough waste around to meet the demand for diesel, particularly if people start driving diesel cars, which they will if diesel becomes cheaper than petrol.
This means that the price of diesel to the consumer will be dictated by the costs of some other technology, and the feedstock to this technolgy (household waste) will acquire a value. So people will pay you for the privilege of collecting your waste.
At which point, it all starts to sound too good to be true, and the article I cited above states that the main proponent of the technology has a conviction for fraud.
My best guess is that the technology works (though not necessarily as described), but that the costings are wildly optimistic.
Sylvia.
I have worked at a large transnational company on conversion of biomaterial to useful products. The main reason they were not interested in waste as a starting material is that market operations are limited by amount available waste. You can’t grow beyond that, and future growth is where a lot of value comes for investment.
In Australia last year, Axiom Energy was all ready to build a plant converting waste plastic to low sulphur diesel but the project was cancelled when the government decided that full excise was to be payable.
http://www.axiomenergyltd.com.au/announcements/downloads/axe_2005_10_07.pdf
That’s very interesting fat wombat. Thx (and thanks Jen)
Thank you fat wombat.
I am absolutely disgusted by this treasury decision.
How come this sort of info. is not commonly available?
Silly me, journos are not really interested, are they?
Why should one company not pay tax when another does?
When do people start to believe that there is no free lunch.
Any alternate fuel supply will have to pick up the fuel tax burden imposed on petroleum.
The reason for our lousy roads is that most of the fuel tax is used to fund our huge welfare budget.
When you advocate excise free alternate fuel, please nominate which part of the welfare budget you wish to cancel, otherwise you label yourself as a “pie in the sky”, dreamer.
No western government can fund the “services” they provide without the high fuel taxes they charge. To load some other part of the with this huge tax burden, is now politically impossible.
Amazing what free enterprise comes up with – and I agree with Hasbeen above.
All western governments are social democratic, more or less, and how many more disasters have we to endure before this philosophy is finally discredited?
Cellulosic ethanol – the only truely economic biofuel since it uses a feedstock in abundance (agricultural waste) and this feedstock, unlike food commodities, is highly buffered to inflation. The reason being it currently has little to no value and there is an abundance of supply. Wheat stubble, corn stubble, sugar cane waste, timber waste. Grain based ethanol is simply speeding us all to a hyperinflationary likelihood which is good for farmers like me, but not good for the average Joe.
Cellulosic ethanol – the only truely economic biofuel since it uses a feedstock in abundance (agricultural waste) and this feedstock, unlike food commodities, is highly buffered to inflation. The reason being it currently has little to no value and as mentioned previously there that abundance of supply. Wheat stubble, corn stubble, sugar cane waste, timber waste. Grain based ethanol is simply speeding us all to a hyperinflationary likelihood which is good for farmers like me, but not good for the average Joe.
One minute they are chattering about a carbon tax, next minute dropping taxes for ‘environmentally friendly’ ventures…
..every time someone fiddles with a tax distortions prevail. Look at the wine industry, after years of 100% deductions on capital items and MIS ventures they are now pulling out the vines.
Australian film industry had huge tax deductions, 125%?, then fell flat on its face, not sustainable in the real world.
Hhmmn. Driving a car on the off-cuts of liposuction? Coversion of Bullemia vomits into energy? Looks like the fashion industry finally has a constructive role in a sustainable economy. If only we can stop them despoiling 14 year old girls for long enough to make a difference.
Obviously you can turn almost everything that contains coal into diesel using this method but yet not nuclear waste.
There was a story running in German magazine Bild some months ago. A bizarre story about an inventor turning dead cat carcasses into diesel. The inventor was cited saying” I need 20 cats for a full tank”. This story turned out later to be a bogus story.
John this info IS/WAS available – I 1st read of it some time ago, I read of the Austn decision recently in Cosmos mag. Suppport independent media, no matter what yr political persuasion.
Ann – nuclear process could produce hydrogen to power vehicles = kinda similar!?!
Motty – on despoiling young kids – yuo want to convert paedophiles into diesel too?
1edb79f8cc5c Hello!