Advanced Plasma Power technology converts garbage into gas
As recently as January we reported on plasma vaporisation technology capable of turning organic waste material into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, a mixture called synthesis gas, or syn-gas, that can be used as a fuel or as a valuable feedstock in further chemical processes. The company in question then was U.S. based Integrated Environmental Technologies.
Well, it looks like they've got some competition across the pond. U.K. based Advanced Plasma Power bills their Gasplasma Process as being able to "convert a pre-treated waste feedstock into two recyclable products: a hydrogen rich synthetic or syn-gas and a vitrified material suitable for use as a replacement aggregate or building material."
The ideal situation for technology like this is to replace existing land fill sites or garbage incinerators, (used extensively in the U.K.), which are both polluting. The Gasplasma Process plants can themselves be run on syn-gas by using it in a gas engine or turbine to generate electricity, over half of which can be exported out of the plant and onto the grid. The result is a truly environmentally friendly alternative to landfill or incinerators. Advanced Plasma Power have an informative walkthrough video on their website which explains the whole process.
Analysis: These days, wherever organic material is being produced there is someone looking into how to take advantage of it. If we could be turning our garbage into energy instead of landfill though, I'm glad all that organic material is getting so much attention.
Related:
[Source: EcoFriend]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Speck 12:12AM (12/14/2008)
Gas is on of the big issues on everyone’s minds these days. Is the price going to be the same tomorrow as it is today, should I fill up or wait? I think that it is time we stop trying to increase miles per gallon and start looking for new technologies. One that I have become interested in is methanol. There are several positive and negative impacts that I have read about. Some positives include 20% more horsepower and up to 90% less ozone as well as not using fossil fuels. The negatives include larger spaces needed to store, burns faster, and has 60% less energy per gallon.
I still feel that this is a viable option because of what and how the methanol is produced. Because we can use everything from corn stalks to trash to make a fuel that can drive the world then why not? I understand that the start up cost may be crazy, but the world impact and change it could bring about could be well worth the cost.
Think about countries that had a lot of unused land or trash or whatever we could use to make methanol, what if they all produced a clean fuel and we didn’t have to deal with gas prices. With so many different thing able to produce methanol there is no reason that developed and underdeveloped countries alike can’t make their own energy or sell it. This would help promote jobs across many counties that are struggling as well as help more developed counties gain energy dependence.
Methanol facts:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1989/09/25/72511/index.htm
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