Green Hawks Swoop In . . . A Bit Late
Years ago, I stumbled upon (and was inspired by) a device that turned garbage into electricity:
The "tactical biorefinery" processes several kinds of waste at once, which it converts into fuel via two parallel processes. . . .
The tactical biorefinery first separates organic food material from residual trash, such as paper, plastic, Styrofoam and cardboard. The food waste goes to a bioreactor where industrial yeast ferments it into ethanol, a "green" fuel. Residual materials go to a gasifier where they are heated under low-oxygen conditions and eventually become low-grade propane gas and methane. The gas and ethanol are then combusted in a modified diesel engine that powers a generator to produce electricity.
One commenter to that post, atlasimpure, was later re-activated by the Marines and deployed to that theater of war known by combatants as "The Sandbox." A year after I posted about the garbage power thingie, he snapped a picture (in a locked post) of a "molten carbonate fuel cell" access gate.
That tickled memories. King County Metro had installed just such a system at its South Treatment Plant a few years prior:
. . . . [P]luses of fuel cells include few moving parts, modular design, negligible emission of pollutants, and the ability to provide electricity without adding transmission lines and substations. (I emboldened.)
Diesel generators have lots of moving parts and the maintenance difficulties attendant thereto, giving fuel cells operational cost benefit to that original garbage-fueled power device. If, as the King County site mentions, the purchase cost per kilowatt falls, fuel cells will have a distinct advantage over mechanical gen sets. Ah, but here's a question: Why would the military be dumping R&D dollars into energy conservation?
Part of the answer I answered myself in a reply to atlasimpure: "Constantly running gensets are proving fuel hogs in country. That's a problem when one considers the supply line complexity and the need for go-juice for real applications. I've read the military is trying new options for reducing waste and powering the bases."
What I had not considered was how intensely the military was pursuing these "new options." From a Canadian publication The Tyee, we learn:
It all started when insurgents targeted the military's long, cumbersome fuel supply lines with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). When the 400-mile-long highway from the port of Kuwait to Baghdad became a shooting gallery, diesel fuel became a liability in a country floating on oil.
In some months, as many as 40 to 50 Marines died guarding convoys ferrying fuel and water to forward bases. Most perished in blown-up Humvees.
In response, Maj.-Gen Richard Zilmer, the commander of 30,000 marines in western Iraq, issued a startling "priority one" request in 2006. Recognizing that oil had become a tactical liability, he called for a "self sustainable energy solution."
Zilmer argued that green power could reduce "the number of convoys while providing an additional capability to outlying bases ...with photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines."
It got better. This philosophy extended to areas of military culture far beyond the simple supply of electricity:
For starters, the military insulated tents with foam to reduce the demand for diesel generators to run air conditioners. (The military earned back the $95-million investment in fuel savings in just six months.) (I again highlighted boldly).
I read about that original trash digestor in 2007. Research proceeded rapidly, it seems. We now have what I suspect is another variant of the original molten carbonate cell packaged in a smaller box, popularly known as The Bloom Box. The 60 Minutes piece contains the usual poor journalistic hype. For example, the first paragraph of the transcript claims this device has "no emissions;" fuel cells, though cleaner than mechanical combustion, must emit. Still, it seemed promising. And interestingly, according to the piece, Colin Powell joined the company's board of directors, further strengthening the military's ties to this greener shift.
It's sad it took so many lives to convince the military of the conservation's importance, but that's human nature. We do not change without crisis.
And speaking of crisis, Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice ". . . . thinks that peak oil will occur by 2015 and that the U.S. government is not prepared for future oil shocks." Not prepared for oil shocks? I'd agree with that. That totally sounds like us Americans. But 2015? Take a peek at this table displaying World Crude Oil Production from 1960-2009 from the Department of Energy. Head down to 2005's world production numbers (far right column). Then continue down the column. Gee, wasn't the big cost increase in gas at the pump after 2005? Yes, that was 2008, wasn't it? And didn't that spur a huge wave of new crude supply exploration?
So why was 2005's world production volume larger than 2008's?
Welcome to peak oil, Admiral Rice, probably ten years ahead of (your) schedule.
darksumomo found the Tyee article; babystrangeloop added the Department of Energy table.
The "tactical biorefinery" processes several kinds of waste at once, which it converts into fuel via two parallel processes. . . .
The tactical biorefinery first separates organic food material from residual trash, such as paper, plastic, Styrofoam and cardboard. The food waste goes to a bioreactor where industrial yeast ferments it into ethanol, a "green" fuel. Residual materials go to a gasifier where they are heated under low-oxygen conditions and eventually become low-grade propane gas and methane. The gas and ethanol are then combusted in a modified diesel engine that powers a generator to produce electricity.
One commenter to that post, atlasimpure, was later re-activated by the Marines and deployed to that theater of war known by combatants as "The Sandbox." A year after I posted about the garbage power thingie, he snapped a picture (in a locked post) of a "molten carbonate fuel cell" access gate.
That tickled memories. King County Metro had installed just such a system at its South Treatment Plant a few years prior:
. . . . [P]luses of fuel cells include few moving parts, modular design, negligible emission of pollutants, and the ability to provide electricity without adding transmission lines and substations. (I emboldened.)
Diesel generators have lots of moving parts and the maintenance difficulties attendant thereto, giving fuel cells operational cost benefit to that original garbage-fueled power device. If, as the King County site mentions, the purchase cost per kilowatt falls, fuel cells will have a distinct advantage over mechanical gen sets. Ah, but here's a question: Why would the military be dumping R&D dollars into energy conservation?
Part of the answer I answered myself in a reply to atlasimpure: "Constantly running gensets are proving fuel hogs in country. That's a problem when one considers the supply line complexity and the need for go-juice for real applications. I've read the military is trying new options for reducing waste and powering the bases."
What I had not considered was how intensely the military was pursuing these "new options." From a Canadian publication The Tyee, we learn:
It all started when insurgents targeted the military's long, cumbersome fuel supply lines with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). When the 400-mile-long highway from the port of Kuwait to Baghdad became a shooting gallery, diesel fuel became a liability in a country floating on oil.
In some months, as many as 40 to 50 Marines died guarding convoys ferrying fuel and water to forward bases. Most perished in blown-up Humvees.
In response, Maj.-Gen Richard Zilmer, the commander of 30,000 marines in western Iraq, issued a startling "priority one" request in 2006. Recognizing that oil had become a tactical liability, he called for a "self sustainable energy solution."
Zilmer argued that green power could reduce "the number of convoys while providing an additional capability to outlying bases ...with photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbines."
It got better. This philosophy extended to areas of military culture far beyond the simple supply of electricity:
For starters, the military insulated tents with foam to reduce the demand for diesel generators to run air conditioners. (The military earned back the $95-million investment in fuel savings in just six months.) (I again highlighted boldly).
I read about that original trash digestor in 2007. Research proceeded rapidly, it seems. We now have what I suspect is another variant of the original molten carbonate cell packaged in a smaller box, popularly known as The Bloom Box. The 60 Minutes piece contains the usual poor journalistic hype. For example, the first paragraph of the transcript claims this device has "no emissions;" fuel cells, though cleaner than mechanical combustion, must emit. Still, it seemed promising. And interestingly, according to the piece, Colin Powell joined the company's board of directors, further strengthening the military's ties to this greener shift.
It's sad it took so many lives to convince the military of the conservation's importance, but that's human nature. We do not change without crisis.
And speaking of crisis, Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice ". . . . thinks that peak oil will occur by 2015 and that the U.S. government is not prepared for future oil shocks." Not prepared for oil shocks? I'd agree with that. That totally sounds like us Americans. But 2015? Take a peek at this table displaying World Crude Oil Production from 1960-2009 from the Department of Energy. Head down to 2005's world production numbers (far right column). Then continue down the column. Gee, wasn't the big cost increase in gas at the pump after 2005? Yes, that was 2008, wasn't it? And didn't that spur a huge wave of new crude supply exploration?
So why was 2005's world production volume larger than 2008's?
Welcome to peak oil, Admiral Rice, probably ten years ahead of (your) schedule.
darksumomo found the Tyee article; babystrangeloop added the Department of Energy table.