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A Waste Gasification Plant In a Truck

Posted by kdawson on from the back-it-up dept.

waderoush writes "There are plenty of waste-to-energy plants around the US, but most of them simply burn the waste, dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Gasification technology, by contrast, converts nearly all of the waste into gases like hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be used to run generators and furnaces. The problem is that most gasification facilities are factory-sized. Now a startup outside Boston has built a combination shredder-dryer-pelletizer-gasifier that fits into 30-by-8-by-8-foot shipping container. The so-called 'Green Energy Machine' can be backed up to a loading dock by truck, processing 3 tons of solid waste per day and putting out enough synthetic gas to run a 120-kilowatt generator or a 240-kilowatt-equivalent furnace. The makers say the machine can eliminate 540 tons of carbon emissions per year, in large part by reducing the amount of waste that goes to methane-generating landfills."

4 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. The solution is a distributed architecture by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a nice idea. In fact I think all solutions which work by localizing energy distribution is the way to go. Minimizing needless transportation of energy and waste is a huge improvement over the current situation.

    I don't think there will ever be a single "silver bullet" tech to solve our energy and environment issues. The solution is lots and lots of small local (even house-level) improvements.

    --
    .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
    1. Re:The solution is a distributed architecture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think women are the problem. I would be happy to have an energy efficient house made of concrete that is built like a bunker and partially subterranean. My wife however insists on having a pretty house with lots of windows facing all the wrong directions.

  2. Always something to forget about... by Anachragnome · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not sure about the emission standards of Massachusetts, but I know that California was a stickler for oxides of nitrogen emissions.

    It sounds like the temperatures involved here are high enough to form oxides of nitrogen (the cylinder of an automobile can be) and these are precisely the gases that are responsible for "Acid Rain".

    Trading one problem for another?

  3. Re:Carbon Monoxide? by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Err, it's pretty obvious that they'd build some kind of safety mechanism. If you're going to point out dangers of various power sources and assume there are no safety measures being taken, here's a bit of airy scary information for you:

    * Nuclear fuel, uranium, is radioactive and will cause cancer or direct radiation poisoning.
    * Coal is full of mercury, and eating it will cause people to call you a mad hatter.
    * Oil is bad because you can drown in it.
    * Solar power is bad because the sun can give you sunburn.
    * Wind power is really nasty because all those spinning blades can chop you up into teeny tiny pieces.

    --
    I hate printers.