In many in-car conversations – those conversations partly energized by long drives and also irritated by them (as in, “When do we get out of Jersey, huh? When! Have I told you what I really feel about malls?”) – my friend Karen suggested to me that she had read of other ways to make oil than just hauling it out of the ground. Since I have always had a morbid fascination with the recycled dinosaur who fuels cars and is now fossilized in the remains of my record collection, I was loathe to believe her. Then one night, a few weeks ago, while waiting for a prescription at the 24 hour drug store (which has become my second home), I pulled out a shiny paged magazine about cars to find a one-page article about oil which can be made out of the remains of …old cars and other garbage. Inspired by this week’s Sunday Scribblings, I decided to do some casual research, though I have much more to do.
“Our Pétrole Epoque has left us with a TREMENDOUS endowment of trash. After oil runs out, immediately we shall begin to power our civilization on this heaped up refuse, and in fact, create NEW stylish trash with our trash endowment,” notes the blog Peak Oil (http://peake.blogspot.com/2005/07/trash-returned-on-trash-invested.html) And his pronouncement is supported by a dozen articles, including one in a 2003 issue of Discover which describes how all sorts of left-overs and other denizens of the dustbin can easily be converted into oil, also noting that Howard Buffett, son of the famous millionaire, was among those interested in investing in the Changing World Technologies which already has the machinery in place in a plant in Philadelphia. (Anything Into Oil Brad Lemley / Discover v.24, n.5, 1may03)
I haven’t quite mastered the science, yet, or found time to do an aggressive research on the failings of this process – initial research didn’t turn up much. Brian Lemley, in Discover notes that this process can utilize any source of carbons and that the refuse which is produced by this process is non-toxic. Just imagine the possibilities of taking the over-abundance of garbage we have in our world and transforming it into fuel! Certainly this, combined with ethanol and all of the other alternative energies proposed out there, should be able to help us end our addiction to crude oil and the cycle of destructive power it encourages.
And maybe then, I won’t get so aggravated on long drives because instead of contemplating the long lines of endless bargain shoppers I will be facing, I will think about how, ultimately, their and my obsession with particular items can be translated, surprisingly, into a source of energy cleaner than the anxiety which fuels us.
For more Sunday Scribblings, go to www.sundayscribblings.blogspot.com
10 comments:
Wow! This is fascinating. The garbage as oil idea is the only thing I've heard lately that gives me hope that this planet won't be completely obliterated in the near future. Good job!
I have confidence, that when the money is there, it will happen. I think lack of financial incentive (or the repression of ideas that would hurt the oil industry) is the only reason we are not there yet.
I really hope that research continues, because it sounds like utimately a cleaner and more environmentally-friendly way to power vehicles than oil. Thanks for your research into this important topic. I especially like your last line.
@Michelle: Let's not forget that ideas like this are expected to stand up by themselves whereas oil is subsidised enormously by the world's governments.
@commongal: I do wonder about this idea though - are you sure it's not just about reclaiming the oil that we put into plastics and glass? That's great when it comes to ensuring we have enough fuel, but not so great when it comes to reducing CO2 output.
In any case, a thought provoking bit of research cg! :-)
Pacian, good question. No, it's making oil out of almost any garbage, including food garbage. There's a rather graphic picture in the discover article which points this out and also, if you go to the website of the company I mention, they go into things in more detail.
Now that is brilliant and the ultimate in recycling. Hope! woohoo!
Very interesting, I vaguely recall hearing about this. I guess it is like with most of these things: there has to be enough financial incentive to put effort and money into it, never mind political motivation, or god forbid common sense! Perhaps it takes someone like Howard Buffet to take this to the next level, I hope so for the sake of our future generations.
This news is enough to bring me out of the dumps, as is the good humor in which you wrote it. Thank you!
Thought I should add that this stuff got a vey positive mention in this week's New Scientist. It's in an article covering criticisms of biofuel - that it will push up food prices, lead to the destruction of rainforests and generate almost as much CO2 during farming as it saves.
However creating fuel from biowaste has none of these problems.
Thank you, Pacian! You rock!
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