In 1879 Sir Charles Chamberland invented the autoclave which was later used to develop a waste autoclave which was later used to develop today’s organic waste converter. Here’s how an organic waste generator works: 1) Organic waste (food scraps, mulch, firewood, biosolids, etc.) is superheated then 2) moisture is released from the heating of these materials which acts like steam and the 3) steam is used for power generation.
Organic waste converter technology is a sustainable alternative to traditional methods of waste disposal such as incineration and landfill dumping which have destructive effects on our environment. Not only do organic waste converters reduce our carbon footprint and avoid polluting emissions, but they also result in a usable end product known as biofuel, soil compost, or building material (if mixture contains wood/garden scraps). Organic waste converters vary in size; they are used in households to fuel a car or they are used in large corporations such as hospitals, which generate huge amounts of food scraps and biosolids, who then use the steam to generate electricity for the facility. There is a large push in the U.S. to construct on-site organic waste converters in supermarkets. Supermarkets throughout Europe have already implemented this technology and results have shown that there are massive decreases in electricity costs, waste disposal costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Green technology is the ability of modern converters to transfer mechanical energy and friction force on the waste mass into heat energy that is used in the pasteurization and sterilization processes. In the future we should look forward to seeing more green technology integrated into our daily life.
I found your topic very interesting because it is a completely logical thought to begin using food as fuel. It’s also very convenient that waste converter technology is a renewable resource because humans will always have waste that we can continuously convert. And I completely agree that in the future we should look forward to seeing more green technology. This type of invention could seriously help in our fight towards achieving a sustainable energy source.
This is really well done! Not only do you showcase a sustainable energy force and all of its’ highlights, but also the precedented ease in implementing biofuels into our day to day life in subtle ways such as at a grocery store. honestly, reading this was very exciting because it makes me hopeful.
You made a very good argument for more wide-spread and easily accessible organic waste converter technologies. Seeing that Europe has found decreased electrical costs, I wonder if this is or will be tried in the US. Noting that we will always have organic waste, this seems like an extremely sustainable alternative to burning natural gasses.
This is a really interesting idea! I don’t think that many people realize the food we discard, and other compostable materials, could be used as fuel. I think we hear about novelties such as cars that run on vegetable oil or fry oil, but the fact that we could actually be making a difference in our carbon footprint through incinerating food scraps seems to be completely unknown to the populous. I agree that we need to seriously be looking into green technology in the future of our daily lives is necessary for, essentially, our survival.