For years we have been attempting to find ways to efficiently turn our garbage into fuel. Several experiments have transformed waste to gas successfully, but with such high costs in energy and pollution that it became completely pointless. If someone were to find a way to gasify their garbage with little-to-no cost in energy and pollution, they would open up a whole new world in both renewable energy sources and recycling waste. Mike Hart, owner of Sierra Energy, believes he is that man.
Hart has invented something called the FastOx Pathfinder, a shower stall-like machine that creates a chemical reaction in which all waste products are melted at high temperatures without combustion. This creates hydrogen and synthetic natural gas, which can be burned to form energy or made into ethanol or diesel fuel. This gasifier system has already been sold to the US Army for $3 million, making it the first trash-to-gas system bought by the Defense Department- a very promising omen.
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| FastOx Pathfinder |
This solution to both over-waste and the need for renewable fuel in the United States would, if made available to the general public, decrease the cost of gas as well as the cost of food items such as soybeans and corn, which are used in the process of making ethanol. This system, however, is still very new and likely will not become a widespread tool for many years, proving to be a barrier. It is also very expensive as of right now. I believe, though, that Hart's new invention is not only innovative but great for the environment, knocking out two important issues at once. With time, we could not only decrease our waste and our landfills but also have affordable, renewable, fuel. As a driver, I would very much appreciate cheap gas. I sincerely hope this will become a popular source of energy in the future.
Article- Trash Into Gas, Efficiently? An Army Test May Tell
If this technology can preform as advertised then it seems in the near future we will be stepping into a brand new world. I can’t wait to see how the future looks once the FastOx Pathfinder becomes the widespread method to create energy. The article made it seem like the influence of this machine will be like the domino effect; once the Pentagon approves the machine and demonstrates its effectiveness then companies and business will all want one. It never stated the cost and time that is to produce the machine and I wonder just how long it will take for this to become the common way of creating energy. While this seems to have great immediate benefits to the environment, by giving a use to garbage and not producing toxic gasses when the fuel is made; it still keeps us dependent on diesel which when burned emits nitrogen compounds which damage the ozone layer. So while I think this is an astounding invention with many positive implications I think a totally environmentally friendly form of fuel should still be researched.
ReplyDeleteI think that the US really needs that invention. That would mean that the US wouldn’t have to depend on the Middle East for oil any more. America could have cheap fuel again because we are producing the gas and we can set are own prices. The economy would also be better because we won’t have to invest our money in other countries. We could circulate that money into our own banks. For the whole world it means we wouldn’t have to rely on oil and that we won’t deplete that resource for good. Another good thing is that landfills could be put to use and not just pile up and have no purpose. We can be less wastefully and more helpful to the environment. If we could prevent air population from gas in the cars then we would have a perfect solution to many problems that the earth faces.
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