There are all sorts of environmental problems when it comes to trash. How do we deal with all of the garbage that is thrown out? A great deal of it ends up piled up in landfills while a small portion ends up being recycled. Consider, too, the ramifications of needing to pick all that trash up. The trucks hauling all that garbage usually run on diesel fuel, which opens up the possibility of using biofuels. Allied Waste has decided to do just that by using a 20 percent biodiesel blend in their fleet of trucks. Allied Waste in San Mateo, California will use locally-sourced biodiesel for the blend which will be used in 225 trucks. This will reduce their local carbon footprint by at least 3.3 million pounds each year. I wonder if Allied Waste could get a contract to rid restaurants of their used oil? That could certainly make a dent in their biofuel purchasing requirements!

[Source: Idaho Statesman]

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:

• How would you like to turn your trash into gas?
• Robert Kennedy Jr. promotes cellulosic ethanol instead of corn ethanol
• Startech's plasma conversion facility can turn garbage into hydrogen

[Source: EcoFriend]