Monday, May 24, 2010
Yeah, but it's Go-o-od Shit!
I like stories about ideas that show promise. This one from New Zealand is one such story.
A trial converter is being tested at Paraparaumu's wastewater treatment plant.Here's wishing the Diggers good luck.
Dried human waste is mixed with plastic and formed into rods which are fed into the unit, where they are heated in the absence of air, in a process called pyrolysis.
As the material heats up, its carbon breaks down and is converted into gas.
That gas, which includes methane, could be used to power turbines and make electricity.
Any carbon-based material could go into the converter, SpectioNZ co-director Mike Henare said.
That meant New Zealand's mountain of plastic and organic waste could one day be turned into fuel. "Three million tonnes of waste goes into landfill each year. Of that, 1.8 million is organic, so there's the potential to divert that much. Successful development of the system could mean we no longer have to export waste to China."
The next step was to develop an industrial version of the converter, with a 100 kilowatt power supply, compared to 1kW on the trial version.
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