Category: SustainableEnergy

William Cox: Principles of renewable energy: Chapter 1 by John Twidell and Tony Weir (Summary)

I. Purpose is to analyze the full range of renewable energy supplies available for modern economies.

a. Chosen sources – wind, water, biomass, solar, and waste

b. Local and global application and practicality of energy supply

II. Defining Renewable Energy and Non-Renewable Energy

1. Renewable, Sustainable, or Green Energy: ‘“Energy Obtained from natural and persistent flows of energy occurring in the immediate environment”’

2. Non-renewable, finite, or Brown energy: ‘“Energy obtained from static stores of energy that remain underground unless released by human interaction”’

3. Where we stand: These definitions suggest that the Plastic to Diesel Plant we are looking at implementing is neither a Renewable nor Non-Renewable energy. At the stage it is transferred into diesel it is not taken from underground (although it is a petroleum product.) It is also does not occur in the immediate environment (although it is quite persistent.) This leaves us in an interesting middle ground. It is important to recognize because this plant may not only help dispose of plastic but also create a stepping stone towards renewable energy sources in the future.

III. Important questions to ask

1. How much energy is available in the immediate environment – what is the resource?

a. For our purposes it is plastics. There are only certain types of plastics that can be used. The plastic already in the landfill may or may not be a cost effective source, so it may not be an option in the start.

– Currently plastic production is huge, so there is a lot of plastic that must be disposed of and landfill space is limited.

2. For what purpose can this energy be used – what is the end-use?

a. No energy source is cheap or occurs without some form of environmental disruption.

– It is important use the energy in the most efficient way possible i.e. natural gas for transportation, nuclear for industrial production, ect.

b. Money spent on energy conservation and improvements in end-use efficiency result in long term benefits than money spent on increased generation and supply capacity

3. What is the environmental impact of technology- is it sustainable?

a. Relates to social responsibility and sustainable development (continued in chapter 17, should look into that)

b. What is the cost of the energy – is it cost-effective?

§ Institutional factor that depends on consumers and becomes a major criterion for commercial installations.

§ The cost effectiveness of a power source depends on distinctive scientific principles of renewable energy like efficiency. This can be broken down into different criteria

· Locally available source – (pre-present)

– It is more cost effective for renewable energy to be produced locally in a dispersed fashion rather than being centralized. Electricity from finite sources like fossil fuels are more efficiently generated at a large factory and then allotted outwardly. Electricity from renewable sources like wind or solar are more efficiently produced and allotted locally, therefore the energy loss during conversion and transportation is much less, and it is more cost effective.

· Dynamic characteristics of energy – when does is peak, or does it?

· Quality of supply – Proportion of the energy source that can be converted to mechanical work.

IV. Social Implications

1. Populations have grown in response to the employment opportunities offered in areas of industry and commerce (industrial revolution.) The implementation of renewable energy would be decentralized and dispersed into many different areas. It would lead to many changes in lifestyle, as new jobs would open up in different areas (these new establishments would be able to support up to 500 people per square kilometer.) This could relive population stress on metropolitan and urban areas.

Home-Scale Conversion of Plastics to Oil

http://permaculturenews.org/2014/03/21/home-scale-conversion-plastics-oil/

A highly-promising development out of Japan: a corporation called Blest has developed a home-scale plastic to oil converter. Through the process 1kg of plastic yields 1 litre of oil.

The machine, produced in various sizes, for both industrial and home use, can easily transform a kilogram of plastic waste into a liter of oil, using about 1 kWh of electricity but without emitting CO2 in the process. The machine uses a temperature controlling electric heater instead of flames, processing anything from polyethylene or polystyrene to polypropylene (numbers 2-4).



http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to-oil-fantastic

This video brief about the invention of a plastic-to-oil converting machine went viral and exceeded 3.7 million views on YouTube.

This is evidence that concern over “the plastic problem” is certainly not going away, despite encouraging bans on and decreases in the use of plastic shopping bags.

Here on Our World, on the video’s YouTube page and those of re-posters too, as well as on the hot Reddit Science link, the topic has generated much interest and debate amongst commenters.

Many think that this type of recycling is not a solution, but that instead the world should be seriously focused on the first “R” — which is reduce. We should shun single-use plastic (such as your average PET bottle or disposable container) altogether, they argue. The world’s oil resources are diminishing; does technology like this enable our denial of that fact, or is it a hopeful and constructive step in the right direction?

Others have concerns about pollution or toxic residue from the conversion process. Blest tells us that, if the proper materials are fed into the machine (i.e., polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene — PP, PE, PS plastics), there is no toxic substance produced and any residue can be disposed of with regular burnable garbage. They also explain that while methane, ethane, propane and butane gasses are released in the process, the machine is equipped with an off-gas filter that disintegrates these gases into water and carbon.

Lastly, commentators from around the world are anxious to know if and where they can purchase a machine. Though the company still mainly produces larger, industrial-use machines, Blest Co. will be more than happy to hear from you. Please contact them directly at info@blest.co.jp.

Below is the original article, published on April 14, 2009.

We are all well aware of plastic’s “rap-sheet.” It has been found guilty on many counts, including the way its production and disposal raises resource issues and lets loose extremely negative environmental impacts.

Typically made from petroleum, it is estimated that 7% of the world’s annual oil production is used to produce and manufacture plastic. That is more than the oil consumed by the entire African continent.

Plastic’s carbon footprint includes landfilling and incineration, since sadly, its recycle rate is dismally low around the globe.

Plastic trash is also polluting our oceans and washing up on beaches around the world. Tons of plastic from the US and Japan are floating in the Pacific Ocean, killing mammals and birds. Perhaps this tragedy is best captured in the TED presentation by Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.


Turning Plastic Into Oil

A recycling facility in Whitehorse, Yukon, converts used plastic to oil with the Blest Machine.
By Staff, Utne Reader
November/December 2013

From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the local landfill, the plastic that makes our lives so easy becomes a huge burden once we’re done using it. When hopeful news of a Japanese-designed plastic-to-oil converter surfaced in 2010, the internet rejoiced, but accounts of the Blest Machine’s actual use have been hard to find. Now, reports Julie Bélanger for Alternatives Journal (March-April 2013), at least one large recycling plant is using the machine.

Better than the landfill: Pyrolysis turns plastic bags into crude oil

Researchers at the University of Illinois have found a way to make diesel and gas out of used plastic bags

By Daniel Hills

Walk down any city street and you’ll undoubtedly see an underlying commonality: plastic bags. Either littered about the gutter or being used by a passer–by, plastic bags are everywhere. Plastic bags are inexpensive to produce, easy to transport, and take about half a millennia to biodegrade. Recently, researchers at the University of Illinois’ Sustainable Technology Center have come up with a process that doesn’t make plastic bags biodegrade faster, but uses the petroleum composition of plastic bags (what keeps them from breaking down) to make fuels like diesel and gasoline. Dr. Sriraam R Chandrasekaran, a research and development engineer from the Sustainable Technology Center who helped develop the process, took some time to speak with me about his findings.

Could you walk me through the process of creating fuel from plastic bags?

Dr. Sriraam R Chandrasekaran: “Standard plastic bags are basically made from petroleum by–products. What we do is collect plastic bags and put them through a process called pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is basically combusting all these materials in an oxygen deficient atmosphere. When you do that it produces syn–gas [synthetic gas], when you condense the syn–gas it forms crude oil. If you want to further distillate it you can get diesel, or gasoline.”

The pyrolysis setup in the lab. On the left: a container of plastic bags. On the right: extracted crude oil.

How many plastic bags does it take to make 1 gallon of crude oil?

SC: “The plastic bags have a very low density, 8 lbs. of grocery bags yield about 1 gallon of crude oil. A pound of plastic bags contains approximately 75-100 bags, about 700–800 plastic bags will produce roughly a gallon of crude oil.”

Is there any difference between the crude oil that comes out of the ground and the crude oil produced with plastic bags?

SC: “The crude oil from the plastic bags has slightly better properties than the crude oil you get from underground. The reason being is the plastic bags are made from petroleum, so crude oil made from plastic bags have fewer trace metals, such as sulfur.”

Is this process scalable?

SC: «Yes. There are technologies available to scale up. We are currently working on the scale up process, we’ve been conducting small-scale batch experiments and we’ve gone a little higher for the pilot scales too. Whatever we produce in our lab, as an integral part of the Sustainable Technology Center, we expand to the pilot scale and also work to transfer the technology to the industry.»

Different fuels made from plastic bags.

Is the process dangerous?

SC: «No. Pyrolysis is one of the only high temperature processes where not much pressure is involved. And it’s a closed system so net emissions are almost zero. There are definitely no harmful emissions since it’s a closed system.»

What’s the future of creating fuels from plastic?

SC: «Right now we’ve been concentrating on grocery bags, but we are slowly expanding our research studies to other types of plastics that are not recyclable, and end up in landfills. We’re trying to optimize the process, combining different plastics and see if we can get the same results. There are a lot of plastics available that are not recyclable and ideal for energy conversion. Our work is expanding into all these plastics, instead of concentrating on high–density or low–density plastics we are trying to expand it to all non–recyclable plastics.»

What chemical by–products are produced as a result of the pyrolysis?

SC: «The by–products of the pyrolysis process are very minimal. Most of the hydrocarbons that are produced by the process are condensed and collected in the form of liquid. Some of the gasses produced that could be volatile and escape, we have a process of catalytic conversion where any unburned hydrocarbons are completely converted to carbon dioxide.»

What else are you working on?

SC: «It is not just plastics we are doing; we are also trying to convert biomass materials, using the pyrolysis process, into biochar and biofuel. We do a lot of work related to energy stuff. Getting biochar uses the same process as getting crude oil, only the raw material is biomass and not plastic bags.»

Think your plastic is being recycled? Think again.

by Jen Hayden
Think those plastic items you carefully separate from the rest of your trash are being responsibly recycled? Think again. U.S. recycling companies have largely stayed away from recycling plastic and most of it has been shipped to China where it can be processed cheaper. Not anymore. This year China announced a Green Fence Policy, prohibiting much of the plastic recycling they once imported:

For many environmentally conscious Americans, there’s a deep satisfaction to chucking anything and everything plasticky into the recycling bin—from shampoo bottles to butter tubs—the types of plastics in the plastic categories #3 through #7. Little do they know that, even if their local trash collector says it recycles that waste, they might as well be chucking those plastics in the trash bin.

“[Plastics] 3-7 are absolutely going to a landfill—[China’s] not taking that any more… because of Green Fence,” David Kaplan, CEO of Maine Plastics, a post-industrial recycler, tells Quartz. “This will continue until we can do it in the United States economically.”U.S. recyclers are scrambling to come up with a solution now that China is drastically cutting back on their top import from the U.S.:

China’s demand for low-cost recycled raw materials has meant waste shipments from Europe, the US, Japan and Hong Kong have arrived thick and fast, with scrap becoming the top US export to China by value ($11.3bn) in 2011.

China controls a large portion of the recycling market, importing about 70% of the world’s 500m tonnes of electronic waste and 12m tonnes of plastic waste each year. Sudden Chinese policy changes therefore have a significant impact on the global recycling trade, which puts pressure on western countries to reconsider their reliance on the cost-effective practice of exporting waste, a habit that’s reinforced by a lack of domestic recycling infrastructure and a lower demand for secondary raw materials.China’s Green Fence policy just might spur the U.S. government and recyclers into much-needed innovation:

Historically, higher labor costs and environmental safety standards made processing scrap into raw materials much more expensive in the US than in China. So the US never developed much capacity or technology to sort and process harder-to-break down plastics like #3 through #7.

Green Fence might be a chance to change that, says Mike Biddle, CEO of California-based recycling company MBA Polymers. “China’s Green Fence offers a real opportunity to the US government and recycling industry to step up its efforts on recycling and catalyze a strong domestic recycling market in the US,” Biddle said at a recent webinar on Green Fence.Some U.S. recycling companies are applauding the news:

The policy also has leveled the playing field by allowing large-scale companies that have invested additional money in pollution control and recycling services to operate at a more equal and fair-cost level, according to Kathy Xuan, CEO of full-service recycler Parc Corp. of Romeoville, Ill.

With China taking a harder look at the plastic waste it imports, U.S.-based recyclers are looking for opportunities in the changing global market.

Parc has doubled production in the last six months, Xuan said in a July 2 webinar hosted by the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. of Washington.The opportunity for big change (and big profits) is there. Let’s hope the U.S. government and recycling companies don’t throw away the opportunity to lead the way.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO SCOUT FINCH ON WED SEP 18, 2013 AT 10:46 AM PDT.
ALSO REPUBLISHED BY DK GREENROOTS, DAILY KOS CLASSICS, AND DAILY KOS.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/09/18/1239747/-Think-your-plastic-is-being-recycled-Think-again?detail=email#

Paresh Khetan

In their study, John Randolph and Gilbert Masters discuss the role that energy plays in society. The authors begin by reviewing man’s relationship with energy throughout history. They cite fire as the “first conscious human-engineered energy conversion.” With the development of new conversions and technologies, society grows in terms of population and economy. However, the current dilemma that society now faces is that of sustainability, which is defined as “patterns of economic, environmental, and social progress that meets the need of the present day without reducing the capacity to meet future needs.” The true challenge is meeting current needs while also taking into consideration that 37% of the world’s energy is still derived from petroleum. Time or rather the lack of it, is another important issue to consider. Despite obvious evidence of our role in global warming, we have yet to take measures that counter the damage we have caused. While all societies are at fault, nations such as the United States serve as examples for the rest of the globe. The US accounted for 20% of global energy usage while it only contains less than 5% of the global population. If top nations are not concerned with sustainable standards, then why should developing nations sacrifice their potential advances? Is it not their right to achieve basic societal needs and to expand their economies? The first chapter of this study outlines the need for us to develop a sustainable future that can complement a growing economy and population. While the article does not particularly discuss plastic waste management, it presents a solid historical analysis which makes sustainability an immediate global issue.

Economic Impact of Plastics-to-Oil Facilities in the U.S.

Introduction Plastics recycling has continued to grow in the United States over the past few decades, with a total of 2.8 million tons of plastics recycled in 2012. 1 While reuse and recycling are the preferred methods of plastics recovery, it is not always economically feasible – or even possible – for all plastics to be recycled, illustrating the opportunity for other economical means of recovering plastics. Because they are derived from hydrocarbons, plastics have a high energy content that can be converted to crude oil and fuels, synthetic gas, and recycled feedstocks for new plastics and other products of chemistry. Various conversion technologies such as mass burn waste-to-energy, gasification and pyrolysis, are able to recover the energy contained in plastics. Recovering this valuable energy through conversion technologies reduces waste sent to landfills and complements plastics recycling. 2 Investment in the technologies — and associated facilities — needed to capture this energy value will contribute to sustainable development, create jobs, and has the potential to contribute billions of dollars to the economy. This report presents the results of the analysis conducted to quantify the potential economic impact that investments in conversion technology facilities could have on the United States. For the purposes of this report, the analysis focused only on the conversion technology of pyrolysis, referred to here as ―plastics-to-oil‖ or ―PTO‖ technology. 


Pyrolysis is a process by which non-recycled plastics (NRP) are source-separated and converted to synthetic crude oil or other types of fuel oil by means of thermal treatment. Although there are several manufacturers of PTO technologies, each with some variation in its technology, the basic steps of the process are the same: first the NRP, which can be mixed plastics, is collected and pretreated; then heat converts the plastics to a gaseous state and any non-plastic materials (char) are removed; finally, the gas is distilled into a liquid (oil/fuel) and either sold as is or further refined into fuels or other petroleum products before entering the market. This report is based on metrics developed by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) for two variations of hypothetical PTO facilities using data collected from publically-available sources and information provided by members of the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance.3 Using the conservative assumption that 20% of the amount of post-consumer NRP4 landfilled each year could be diverted to PTO facilities, 5 we estimate that the U.S. could support between 350 and 600 PTO facilities, depending on the production characteristics and size of the facility.

http://plastics.americanchemistry.com/Stand-Alone-Content/Economic-Impact-of-Plastics-to-Oil-Facilities.pdf

Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a DI diesel engine using waste plastic oil


Applied Thermal Engineering (Impact Factor: 2.62). 09/2009; 29(13):2738-2744. DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2009.01.007

ABSTRACT Increase in energy demand, stringent emission norms and depletion of oil resources have led the researchers to find alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. On the other hand waste plastic pose a very serious environment challenge because of their disposal problems all over the world. Plastics have now become indispensable materials in the modern world and application in the industrial field is continually increasing. In this context, waste plastic solid is currently receiving renewed interest. The properties of the oil derived from waste plastics were analyzed and compared with the petroleum products and found that it has properties similar to that of diesel. In the present work, waste plastic oil was used as an alternate fuel in a DI diesel engine without any modification. The present investigation was to study the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a single cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled DI diesel engine run with waste plastic oil. The experimental results have showed a stable performance with brake thermal efficiency similar to that of diesel. Carbon dioxide and unburned hydrocarbon were marginally higher than that of the diesel baseline. The toxic gas carbon monoxide emission of waste plastic oil was higher than diesel. Smoke reduced by about 40% to 50% in waste plastic oil at all loads.
To read this article follow this link:
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/229379253_Performance_emission_and_combustion_characteristics_of_a_DI_diesel_engine_using_waste_plastic_oil


Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics of Plastic Oil Produced from Waste Polyethylene and Its Blends with Diesel Fuel

International Journal of Green Energy (Impact Factor: 2.07). 09/2014; DOI: 10.1080/15435075.2014.893873

ABSTRACT The overall objective of this study was to explore the utility of waste plastics as a potential source of diesel fuel. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the use of various blends of plastic oil produced from waste polyethylene (WPE) with diesel fuel (D). WPE was degraded thermally and catalytically using sodium aluminum silicate as a catalyst. The oil collected at optimum conditions (414°C–480°C range and 1 h reaction time) was fractionated at different temperatures and fuel properties of the fractions were measured. Plastic oil was blended with diesel fuel at the volumetric ratios of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 100%. Fuel properties of blends are found comparable with those of diesel fuel within the EN 590 Diesel Fuel standard and they can also be used as fuel in compression ignition engines without any modification. Engine performance and exhaust emission studies of 5% WPE-D (WPE5) blend were performed. Experimental results showed that carbon monoxide (CO) emission is decreased by 20.63%, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is increased by 3.34%, and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission is increased by 9.17% with WPE-D (WPE5) blend compared to diesel fuel.
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/267777758_Engine_Performance_and_Emission_Characteristics_of_Plastic_Oil_Produced_from_Waste_Polyethylene_and_Its_Blends_with_Diesel_Fuel

Barcelona Apartments


CR&R Waste and Recycling Services is one of Southern California’s most innovative and successful recycling and waste collection companies, serving more than 2.5 million people and 5,000 businesses throughout Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Imperial, and Riverside counties. Thanks to groundbreaking technologies and pioneering reclamation programs, we are able to recycle over 120,000 tons of materials each year, creating cleaner communities, reducing air and water pollution, conserving landfill space, and extending our natural resources. We’re making your neighborhood a better place to live and work.

Our job may be to pick up and dispose of trash, but our mission is to help improve the communities we serve and to create a higher quality of life for it’s residents. We do so, not only through some of today’s most innovative recycling and reuse programs, but by getting involved in community events and supporting our many neighbors. Through educational programs, we help keep our customers informed about new services, laws, and advancements. And through volunteering, our employees aid numerous worthy causes throughout the communities we serve. After all, we live here too, and take pride in knowing we are making a difference. That’s what good business is all about.


http://www.crrwasteservices.com/
(800) 826-9677 (press O for assistant)  left a message with Bob Williams ext. 2267
(714) 372-8287 (Craig Dibley ext. 2242)

Orange County Register

ORANGE — The new waste collection franchise in Orange is on track to accomplishing its goal of delivering 100,000 trash bins to homes throughout the city by Friday.
The City Council awarded CR&R Waste Services a $100-million-plus, eight-year contract in July 2009 to become the city’s trash collector. The company is taking over from Waste Management and the contract begins Feb. 1.
To accomplish the task of delivering so many trash bins, CR&R spokesman Dean Ruffridge said the company has 80 workers, divided into seven teams scattered throughout the city.
As Waste Management trucks collect trash and pick up some bins, Ruffridge said CR&R trucks are right behind them to drop off three new bins to homes.


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bins-231315-ruffridge-waste.html