Reply #172: Thermal depolymerization

[alittlelark]

<Thermal depolymerization is similar to the geological processes that produced the fossil fuels used today, except that the technological process occurs in a timeframe measured in hours. Until recently, the human-designed processes were not efficient enough to serve as a practical source of fuel—more energy was required than was produced.
A new approach that exceeded break-even was developed by Illinois microbiologist Paul Baskis in the 1980s and refined over the next 15 years. The technology was finally developed for commercial use in 1996 by Changing World Technologies. Brian Appel (CEO of Changing World Technologies) took the technology in 2001 and expanded and changed it into TCP and has applied for a patent. A Thermal Depolymerization demonstration plant was completed in 1999 in Philadelphia by Thermal Depolymerization, LLC, and the first full-scale commercial plant was constructed in Carthage, Missouri, about 100 yards (100 m) from ConAgra Foods' massive Butterball Turkey plant, where it is expected to process about 200 tons of turkey waste into 500 barrels (21,000 US gallons or 80 m³ of oil per day.>


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization
http://www.thermaldepolymerization.org/
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2004-01-22-kantor_x.htm