Friday, September 10, 2010

Turning Plastic Back to Oil



One of the key factors the left always forgets is technological change. This, if true, would be a game changer.

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. ...

A Japanese company called Blest created a small, very safe and easy to use machine that can convert several types of plastic back into oil. ...

Blest’s conversion technology is very safe because it uses a temperature controlling electric heater rather than flame. The machines are able to process polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene (numbers 2-4) but not PET bottles (number 1). The result is a crude gas that can fuel things like generators or stoves and, when refined, can even be pumped into a car, a boat or motorbike. One kilogram of plastic produces almost one liter of oil. To convert that amount takes about 1 kilowatt of electricity, which is approximately ¥20 or 20 cents’ worth.
http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to-oil-fantastic/

Excellent resource on plastic use: http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/.../Plastics.htm

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