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Garbage as fuel (closer than you think!)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

garbage dump



In news on the biofuel/recycled waste front, Discovery News reports that the commercial conversion of municipal garbage to clean-burning ethanol is as little as two years away. This is innovation at its finest - a singular concept that addresses two major environmental dilemmas at once.

"Two companies -- INEOS bio of Lyndhurst, U.K., and Coskata of Warrenville, Ill. -- claim to be within reach of producing ethanol from garbage on a commercial scale. INEOS bio announced this week that they plan to produce commercial quantities of waste-derived ethanol within two years. Coskata plans to have a commercial demonstration facility by mid-2009.

The companies use similar processes to turn municipal waste into ethanol. The first step is gasification, in which the waste is heated with limited oxygen to create carbon monoxide and hydrogen ... The carbon monoxide and hydrogen mixture is then fed to bacteria, which convert the mixture into ethanol. The ethanol is then purified and blended with fuel."

Link.

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Garbage as fuel (closer than you think!)

posted by M13 on Wednesday, July 23, 2008