Renewable Energy @ MindSay 
A company called Changing World Technologies developed the process, and is currently using it in the Carthage plant with plans to open another in Pennsylvania. One ton of turkey offal is eventually processed into 600 lbs of petroleum, 100 lbs of butane/methane, and 60 lbs of minerals. The rest is water, which is recycled back into the system. Turkey guts are only the beginning, as CWT has also converted plastic bottles, paper, medical waste, and tires.
The process is as follows (as described by Wikipedia):
The feedstock material is first ground into small chunks, and mixed with water if it is especially dry. It is then fed into a reaction chamber where it is heated to around 250 °C and subjected to 600 psi (4 MPa) for approximately 15 minutes, after which the pressure is rapidly released to boil off most of the water. The result is a mix of crude hydrocarbons and solid minerals, which are separated out. The hydrocarbons are sent to a second-stage reactor where they are heated to 500 °C, further breaking down the longer chains, and the resulting mix of hydrocarbons is then distilled in a manner similar to conventional oil refining.Essentially, thermal depolymerization is similar to the process the earth uses to create fossil fuels, it's just done on a much shorter time scale. For more information, check out the Wikipedia page here.Working with turkey offal as the feedstock, the process proved to have yield efficiencies of approximately 85%; in other words, the energy contained in the end products of the process is 85% of the energy contained in the inputs to the process (most notably the energy content of the feedstock, but also including electricity for pumps and natural gas for heating). Alternatively, if one considers the energy content of the feedstock to be free (i.e., waste material from some other process), one could consider the energy efficiency of the process to be 560% (85 units of energy made available for 15 units of energy consumed). The company claims that 15 to 20% of feedstock energy is used to provide energy for the plant. The remaining energy is available in the converted product. Higher efficiencies may be possible with drier and more carbon-rich feedstocks, such as waste plastic.
You'd think an amazing technology like this would be on the news. Yet strangely enough, it isn't. The news media prefers to talk about methods that are long-shots compared to this one, but don't want to talk about a process that may one day be converting our garbage into energy.
Now that we're finally starting to wake up and realize ethanol isn't the answer, that it's causing more harm than good and is just another pit for our government to sink money into, I feel it's important that more of us are aware of TDP and other technologies that are making use of our waste products. Thankfully, the government is funding CWT. I really feel that this technology is going to be a major push to get us out of our energy crisis, among others.
CNN
ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) -- Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel.
"Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.
Kertz, a plant physiologist and entrepreneur, holds about 20 patents. And he is psyched about the potential algae holds, both as an energy source and as a way to deal with global warming.
"We are a giant solar collecting system. We get the bulk of our energy from the sunshine," said Kertz.
Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes.
Most people know algae as "pond scum." And until recently, most energy research and development projects used ponds to grow it.
But instead of ponds, Valcent uses a closed, vertical system, growing the algae in long rows of moving plastic bags. The patented system is called Vertigro, a joint venture with Canadian alternative energy company Global Green Solutions. The companies have invested about $5 million in the Texas facility.
"A pond has a limited amount of surface area for solar absorption," said Kertz.
"By going vertical, you can get a lot more surface area to expose cells to the sunlight. It keeps the algae hanging in the sunlight just long enough to pick up the solar energy they need to produce, to go through photosynthesis," he said.
Kertz said he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared to about 30 gallons per acre from corn; 50 gallons from soybeans.
Using algae as an alternative fuel is not a new idea. The U.S. Department of Energy studied it for about 18 years, from 1978 to 1996. But according to Al Darzins of the DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab, in 1996 the feds decided that algae oil could never compete economically with fossil fuels.
The price of a barrel of oil in 1996? About 20 bucks!
Government scientists experimented with algae in open ponds in California, Hawaii, and in Roswell, New Mexico.
But that involved a lot of land area, with inherent problems of evaporation and contamination from other plant species and various flying and swimming critters. Darzins said NREL switched from algae research to focus on cellulosic ethanol. That's ethanol made from plants like switchgrass and plant stover -- the leaves and stalks left after a harvest -- but not edible crops such as corn and soybeans.
Valcent research scientist Aga Pinowska said there are about 65,000 known algae species, with perhaps hundreds of thousands more still to be identified.
A big part of the research at the west Texas facility involves determining what type of algae produces what type of fuel. One species may be best suited for jet fuel, while the oil content of another may be more efficient for truck diesel.
In the Vertigro lab, Pinowska studies the care and feeding of algae for just such specifics. She said even small changes in the nutrients that certain algae get can help create a more efficient oil content.
And she said a knowledge of algae's virtues goes way back.
"Even the Aztecs knew it was beneficial; they used it as a high protein food," said Pinowska.
The other common commercial use of algae today is as a health food drink, usually sold as "Spirulina."
I'm too sexy for my pond [FiveAcez: I'm not responsible for this title. I am fully aware how awkward it is.]
And who knew that single celled plants could be such "hotties" when it comes to sex? Kertz said it's a real "algae orgy" under the microscope.
Some algae reproduce sexually, some asexually, while many combine both modes. In some green algae the type of reproduction may be altered if there are changes in environmental conditions, such as lack of moisture or nutrients.
Intriguing details like that keep Kertz and other scientists searching for more and different algae. While dusty west Texas may not be the best hunting grounds, he said he is always on the lookout for samples in puddles, streams or ponds.
Locating algae processing plants intelligently can add to their efficiency. Locating algae facilities next to carbon producing power plants, or manufacturing plants, for instance, the plants could sequester the C02 they create and use those emissions to help grow the algae, which need the C02 for photosynthesis.
And after more than a decade hiatus, the U.S. government is back in the algae game. The 2007 Energy Security and Independence Act includes language promoting the use of algae for biofuels. From the Pentagon to Minnesota to New Zealand, both governments and private companies are exploring the use of algae to produce fuel.
But Al Darzins of the National Renewable Energy Lab said the world is still probably 5 to 10 years away from any substantial use of biofuels.
"There's not any one system that anyone has chosen yet. Whatever it is has to be dirt, dirt cheap," said Darzins.
This looks like a viable fuel source. And the best part is, it'll easier and cheaper to produce than oil... $.05 per gallon anyone?
Cc: CARB, GE, Don Gardner, Pete Kusek, Debi, Alan, Christopher
Subject: Global Warming, Clean Air and Clean Energy
I’m convinced that this is a time when private industry and governments must come together for the benefit of our planet.
I recently sent the following to the California Air Resources Board (CARB):
“To: California Air Resources Board
Subject: Who Killed the Electric Car?
I just watched this video. It shook me up. I’m sure that, if California now had lots of electric cars on its highways, it would have lots less pollution and smog.
However, since our planet’s electric energy still comes mostly from fossil fuel -- oil, coal and natural gas, even if the world had converted to electric cars the total CO2 footprint would not have changed that much.
You might like to look at my BLOG at: http://ancientfool.mindsay.com/. On March 2nd I posted “Global Warming and Clean, Renewable Energy” including what I sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer who heads the Senate’s Committee on the Environment.
Sincerely,
Keith Burk”
I trust the judgment of Cambridge Energy Resources Associates, Nuclear Energy Institute, Inc. and American Nuclear Society. I’m sure you’ll be able to check and confirm that, considering all the costs involved, clean hydrogen obtained from water using nuclear can, if we start now, by 2037 competitively supply energy for our land transportation.
Please acknowledge receipt and advise what action, if any, you will take. Thank you.
Best regards,
Keith
webmaster@ge
Please forward to Andrew C. White at GE Nuclear Energy
Keith Burk; 133 Bull River Bluff Drive; Savannah, GA 31410-1599; Phone: (912) 897-0233; Email: kburk7@comcast.net
This is my first post so I thought I would put a picture out there that shows what my passion has been for over 30 years and what I am now doing as a business. This solar array is up in NH and was constructed by the owner who is one of those brave soles who is "off grid". I am putting this out there (BLOG) as a place to discuss and answer questions about renewable energy, aside from the business, so this BLOG is not on my website, www.WeAreSolar.com, but I will mention the site here because there is allot of ENERGY "stuff" on the website.
WELCOME to all.....
.....Bill