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Waste to Energy Doesn't Harvest Much New

On Jan. 17, 2008, New Energy Congress member, Paul Noel wrote:

Well I thought the video was pretty cute.

As to waste to energy, there are several points.

1. Any energy recovered from such streams is not new energy, but simply an increase in efficiency of a stream of energy use. It isn't new energy but it is increased efficiency. All other factors unchanged this is wonderful.

2. Approximately 1/6th of all petroleum used world wide goes into the production of plastics. The dumping or tipping of these into dumps is largely the source of landfill energy. The reason these develop gas that is usable is that they biodegrade. The reason that most of them got dumped rather than being recycled into new plastics is that they biodegrade. If we were to see biodegradable plastics banned coupled with the forced recycling of plastics most of the energy lost to this diversion to trash would stop. This is the largest single energy supply change that could be made at this time in the world. It exceeds all bio-fuel prospects in the next 20 years.

3. Sewerage represents a massive energy supply for recovery and it should be recovered.

4. None of these solutions resolve the issues of actually achieving a new energy source or significant reductions in pollution over time. They simply move where the pollution happens and change its appearance. They represent continued dependence on the upstream oil stream. Even the biofuel options like Ethanol suffer from being oil in a different form. When fertilizer, plowing, harvesting, transport and then processing are computed the oil industry should love ethanol because they will sell more product.

Waste to Energy is Free Energy

On Jan. 17, 2008, New Energy Congress member, Sterling D. Allan responded:

The reason I think of waste-to-energy as a free or renewable source is because it harvests a source that previously was not used to any substantial or economic extent. Listen to the radio interview I did with Frank Pringle. These guys absolutely belong in our T100 (there are there now). They are doing that and much more. These guys have an amazing technology. It's downside is that it doesn't move us away from burning polluting fuels. It does push the peak oil curve way back, by over 100 years.

• Download (13 mb; mp3) - Frank Pringle, Global Resource Corp, has invented and refined an efficient microwave energy process to turn plastics, discarded tires, and other carbon-based substances such as shale, coal, and tar sands into gas and oil. (Jan. 14, 2008)
  

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See also

• Video:Waste to Energy -- An Overview
• Directory:Waste to Energy

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