One Man's Trash is Another Man's Biofuel: Renewable Energy Articles: Eco20/20

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Biofuel

We as a species have two very huge problems: waste is piling up at an alarming rate and we desperately need an abundant source of clean energy. Many believe that the perfect solution to both of these problems is a simple one. Turn our waste into energy. Problem solved. Could it really work? Many scientists believe it can. It is believed that biofuel from garbage could cut carbon emissions by 80% while replacing our need for such large amounts of petroleum. An estimated 82.9 billion liters of biofuel could be produced from the waste currently found in landfills worldwide. In fact, programs around the world are already making fuel from waste. Here are a few of the more successful examples that are currently being used to turn our trash into usable energy.

In Nevada, scientists are converting poultry waste into usable biofuel. The United States alone produces over 11 billion pounds of poultry waste per year, much of which is usually made into animal food. By boiling chicken feather meal, which is a mixture of processed feathers, blood, and innards, scientists are able to extract the 12% fat content and process it into usable biofuel. Not only does this provide us with a fuel source, but also the processed feather meal provides a higher-grade animal feed and is a better nitrogen source for fertilizer. Potential production of this fuel is estimated at 153 million gallons per year in the United States and an impressive 593 million gallons worldwide.

In some areas, regular household trash will soon be processed into fuel. R3 Environmental in North Carolina is negotiating to build a waste-fuel plant that will mine existing landfills for materials to be used in fuel production. In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, an $80 million dollar facility is set to begin operations late in 2011. This plant is expected to convert 100,000 tons of trash into 9.5 million gallons of biofuel each year. This could cut our carbon footprint by 6 million tons in the next 25 years.

Other noteworthy efforts are being made to convert our trash to treasure. Greenleaf Biofuels of Connecticut collects used cooking oil from Yale University's dining halls and uses it to produce 10 million gallons of biofuel per year. In Dalton, Massachusetts, Crane and Company paper manufacturer is converting their waste wood into a clean-burning biofuel. And AMEC in Canada is working to convert 180 million used diapers into 11 million liters of fuel through prolysis. This is doubly beneficial to the environment since diapers take 100 million years to deteriorate in landfills.

We as a species produce a staggering amount of trash each day. Household trash, used appliances and building materials, industrial waste, agricultural byproducts, and much more are being dumped in landfills where they take years to decompose, if at all. It is the perfect solution for our environment to take all that waste and convert it to a cleaner fuel source to power our daily activities.