The process is called "thermal depolymerization process" or TDP. Sounds cool for us, bad for the Middle East. First Commercially Successful Thermal Conversion Process Debuts (Snippet of article) West Hempstead, NY— Changing World Technologies, Inc. announced the first commercially successful application of thermal technology to convert organic waste into clean energy. Building on scientific research dating to the 1920's and human history extending from the Stone Age, CWT has patented, tested and deployed a technological process that has been awarded $12 million in grants from the U.S. government and produced a joint venture with ConAgra Foods, Inc. Utilizing low-value waste by-products as feedstocks, CWT's thermal technology provides a commercially viable solution for some of the earth's gravest environmental challenges, including arresting global warming by reducing the use of fossil fuels, and reforming organic waste into a high-value resource. In addition, it has the potential to substantially reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Where earlier attempts at thermal conversion failed, CWT's thermal process succeeds in breaking down long chains of organic polymers into their smallest units and reforming them into new combinations to produce clean solid, liquid and gaseous alternative fuels and specialty chemicals.
All I can think about after reading this is Doc dumping banana peels & beer cans from the McFly trashcan into the Delorean...
This seems like the topic/thread that we had about a month ago. I have to think about who started that thread. Left of center type.........
No problem.......it is an interesting project. The original thread stopped about a month ago and KG trade stories come around more often that that in the Rockets Forum. Here is the other thread. <a HREF="http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56176">End of dependence on Middle Eastern oil?</a>
Another prospective trash to energy technology is the bioreactor landfill. There are a few of these in experimental stage now. Basically, these bioreactor landfills are like normal landfills except moisture content is increased to accelerate anaerobic decomposition. Anaerobic decomposotion generates landfill gas that is 50% methane. The methane can be converted into electricity fairly easily as some landfills do this already without the benefits of enhanced methane production via a bioreactor. A side note...when I first heard of bioreactor landfills, I thought whoever came up with the name was an idiot. Landfills already have a bad name (deservably so) and adding bioreactor in front of it makes it sound so much worse.
