Capturing energy from unrecycleable waste

Implementing new technologies to solve chronic problems is hard work. A generation filled with expectations of instant gratification is sure to be frustrated by the seemingly slow pace of change to correct obvious environmental challenges. Take recycling for example. In the last twenty years we have made great strides to reduce, reuse and recycle trash from our waste streams as we hover around

Creating products from the residuals of bioconversion

One of the true achievements that came from the development of the petroleum industry is the creative ways that have been found to dispose of refinery residuals. The entire plastics industry owes much to the innovation of chemical companies like DuPont who found ways to take the "sows ears" of petroleum and make "silk purses" out of them - fibers, plastics, fertilizers, and chemicals.

Navigating to Zero Waste in California

The non-profit California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) recently held its 31st annual CRRA Conference and Trade Show in the coastal city of San Pedro in Los Angeles County attracting recycling professionals from throughout the state. The theme of this year's event was "Navigating to Zero Waste." As a global leader in the environmental sustainability field...The CRRA works to expand markets

OUT OF SITE. CRUISE SHIP TRASH DUMPING!

Cruising into trouble
The number of people who go on a cruise each year more than trebled – from 1.4 to 4.5 million – between 1980 and 1993. The largest cruise ship built so far, the Carnival Destiny, carries 3,400 passengers and 1,040 crew, and is taller than the Statue of Liberty and longer than three football fields.
Cruise ships, on average generate about 4,400 kg of waste a day, compared to the 60 kg a day produced by cargo ships and 10 kg a day by fishing vessels.
About a third of the waste from cruise ships visiting the Caribbean is deliberately dumped, because many ships do not have incineration units (or they are faulty) or because ports do not have adequate facilities for unloading it.
Indeed, even when the waste is properly received by ports, this is often only the beginning of the problem: many countries, particularly small islands, do not have enough disposal sites to deal with it. So says the UNEP. Well. One can expect Cruise Ships to challenge the comments however perhaps there is no contest on this. Fact is TRASH is dumped in the Ocean by somebody! Let's find the way to reuse this product as a fuel source. Waste Plastic Technology has the solution.

Biomass and BioWaste Conference in Pittsburg this September

I have been in touch with Dr. Ines Freesen about a new conference that her company is co-hosting that will take place between September 25-27th in Pittsburg, PA. While there is plenty of excitement about corn ethanol and the emerging technologies surrounding cellulosic ethanol, there is a dearth of press and conference content about the most revolutionary concept of all - converting municipal

Envirepel: Gasified waste-to-electricity in San Diego

I received a welcomed message from Anthony Arand, CEO of Envirepel Energy, Inc. who wished to clarify and expand on what has been reported here on the SDG&E press release:I enjoyed reading your columns in trying to figure out what is our company really up to. Biomass diversion contracts? Honestly, that is the first time I have heard that terminology applied to a utility or us. Please allow me to

Green Waste Gasified to Electricity in CA

Almost one year ago, I posted an entry on the diversion of green waste clippings from landfills to be used as biostock for a California utility electrical plant. The Bull Moose announcement was one of many planned by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) not only for biomass, but also solar and wind projects. Yesterday another similar biomass diversion contract was announced involving a different

May 2007 Digest

Tying Energy Efficiency to Renewable EnergyLost in the rush to develop alternative energy technologies is the obvious value of making energy usage more efficient. As Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute would say, "a watt saved is a watt earned." This can be applied to biofuel usage as well. It is far cheaper to save energy than it is to produce more of it, particularly when existing

April 2007 Digest

Woody Biomass - Energizing a new generationAmerica is witnessing the balkanization of its renewable energy portfolio. The sun belt is home to solar energy. The corn belt is home to ethanol. Landfill bioenergy is focused in urban areas. The nation's woodpiles are in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. Each region will have to come to grips with the economic, technical, environmental, and

Smokestack emissions as feedstock for ethanol

Khosla Ventures is turning its eye onto new businesses that are developing bioconversion processes for turning smokestack emissions into marketable biofuels - mainly ethanol. Such technologies offer the prospect of retrofitting carbon spewing combustion furnaces and boilers with energy saving bioreactors that, with the right combination of nutrients and organisms, can feed on the toxic gases and

Hurdles to Waste Conversion Technologies

At the 23rd Annual BioCycle West Coast Conference in San Diego April 16th, 2007, Coby Skye of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LA/DPW) gave a presentation about the hurdles waste conversion technologies (CTs) face in Southern California. Coby leads a group within the Solid Waste Management Committee/Integrated Waste Management Task Force (SWMC) that has been given the

BIOwaste 101: The BioTown Sourcebook

For anyone who desires a simple introduction to the subject of Biomass Waste I suggest a careful reading of a brief technical overview document called The BioTown, USA Sourcebook of Biomass Energy (released in April, 2006). It was written for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture by scientist and fellow blogger, Mark Jenner, PhD. who has his own website called Biomass Rules. Mark is

March 2007 Digest

Bridging the Gap to BiofuelsWhen it comes to energy, we are all stakeholders – whether we are producers, refiners, developers, educators, policymakers, marketers, regulators, environmentalists, distributors, farmers, foresters, or simply commuters... we are all consumers with a vested interest in future development of renewable energy in concert with environmental sustainability. Even though

WHAT TO DO WITH WASTE PLASTICS!

Plastic waste now represents 11.1% of all municipal solid waste generated each year in the US (2001 US EPA Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste). This amounts to over 50 billion pounds of which only 5.5% was recovered in 2001, while the overall recovery rate for MSW for the year was over 29%. This number does not include the majority of post-industrial plastic waste, which is accounted for separately. Most of it goes to landfill, as its economic use is hindered by two integrated factors. First, plastic waste is comprised of a large number of different resins, and each type has had to be handled separately or sorted until now.

What to do with these waste plastics? Well GR - Technologies solution converting plastics to alternative energy is commercially operative in Korea. Reduce the landfills, stop the some 46,000 pieces of plastic for every square mile of ocean floating aimlessly and effectingly finding it's way into the food chain. The burner can cleanly, efficiently, and economically convert this massive environmental challenge into an alternative energy supplimenting current choices.

The biggest threat is not war or dwindling supplies of fresh water, petroleum, or food. It is the gigantic wave of marine litter created by so-called modern man. And the future does not look good.We dump 7 million tons of litter into the oceans every year. A majority of this litter is thrown overboard from ships. Plastics represent 75 percent of the litter. It is also the worst type of litter.