Posted on 01/10/2006 7:59:50 PM PST by starbase
I want one for my kids' rooms.
kickass!
Finally, a way to make constructive use of Chuckie Schumer.
I've been hearing about thermal depolymerization for several years now. The question I have is, why has this remained relatively below the radar for so long? If the process is feasible, it will truly be revolutionary, probably as much for waste disposal as for the fuel it generates. But, something must not add up. It does sound a bit too good to be true.
On the agenda for congress, tax the heck out of flatbed trucks!
This has been out for a bit. The first article I saw on it detailed W. Buffet's son with a group touring the pilot plant. They now have an ~500 barrel a day unit up at a turkey processing facility in Missouri I believe.
Saw a news piece on it on TV a while back with them showing whole computer monitors being fed into the slurry grinder.
This article is from 2003. The current state of CWT production is $80/barrel. It is not cost competitive yet. They are trying to get classified as bio diesel which would knock it down to $50/barrel.
DK
starbase thanks for the post (update) RC - This story rolls around about every 8 weeks. The investors are the biggest names ever in government i.e. Kissinger, Woolsey etc etc. Now with the turkey plant working I look for them to one several each year - after the big IPO.
It is a wonder this took so long.
Folks have been manufacturering diamonds for years now. Essentially it is the same process, but on a larger scale.
"This article is from 2003. The current state of CWT production is $80/barrel. It is not cost competitive yet."
Are the "unincurred costs" (for lack of a better phrase) of disposal, for the waste used as feedstock, calculated into this $80/bbl. number?
The Saudi prince that created OPEC said five years ago - "The end of the stone age didn't happen because of a lack of stones. The end of the oil age will come from new technology." $60 oil is being held in place while new hybrids and new technolgy come on line.
Probably requires more energy to run the process than it is worth it to get out. Basic laws of thermal dynamics, you can't win, break even or get out the game. The natural process of creating crude oil take a long time and enormous energy (pressure of the earth, gravity, energy from the sun, etc.). Thats a LOT of energy in the process.
What about terrorists, what can that machine turn them into?
We have lots of terrorist garbage in Gitmo...
"Probably requires more energy to run the process than it is worth it to get out."
Well, residing in a state with a large number of hog waste lagoons, chicken and turkey farms, etcetera, there is a value that should be assigned to getting rid of the waste. Even if there was a net negative, as far as fuel derived from the process, it could still be promising.
"Soylent Biodiesel is PEOPLE!!!!"
Bio diesel has a tax break that was .50 to $1.00/gal. Bio diesel was defined very narrowly and that needs to be remedied.
I like the idea of using landfills to make oil.
DK
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