Man says he can turn trash into oil and gas

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

CBS) Not in your wildest dreams can you imagine what Brian Appel plans to do with junk computer parts. His plan: to revolutionize energy.

 

"The first thing were going to do is grind it, were going to shred it up, separate all the metals out and all the minerals and were going to turn the rest of the carbon-based materials into an oil and gas," he explains.

 

Either he's crazy or about to turn the oil industry on its head, reports CBS News Correspondent Wyatt Andrews. Because its not just computer parts. Appel claims his Philadelphia plant can make oil from trash, animal parts and almost any kind of junk.

 

As long as it's carbon-based, "We can turn into an oil and gas," says Appel.

 

Appel says the basic science of turning garbage to oil is simple. he hard part is figuring how long to cook the garbage in what looks like an outsized bootleggers still.

 

The process basically replicates the way the earth itself makes oil. The earth takes any carbon-based waste and subjects it to heat and pressure for roughly 1 million-odd years. Appel's machines do that in three hours.

 

At the end of the process, those old computers produce methane gas, water and oil.

 

So is this too good to be true? Maybe not.

 

In his lab at Iowa State University, engineering professor Robert Brown turns refuse into oil all the time. The science exists, he says, but the process has always been so expensive. It's cheaper just to drill for oil.

 

"It's a matter of what the cost is and that would be where my greatest skepticism is," says Brown.

 

But Appel says he has solved the cost problem and he has believers. The city of Philadelphia plans to turn its treated sewage into fuel oil. At a new plant in Missouri, Butterball Turkey plans to use its left over turkey parts and produce 500 barrels of oil every day. Let your imagination go from there.

 

And what does Appel see?

 

"I clearly see the end of landfills, and I see the end of incinerators," says Appel. "There will be no more accumulation of things like dioxin."

 

Not to mention a reduction in the need for imported oil. And if this is the future, it is here. The market is about to test Appel's claim he can cheaply spin straw into gold.

 

I just saw this on the news. My first thought was, there's no way that this gets off the ground.

The Oil companies will no doubt lobby in Washington to get the guy shut down over some bogus concerns or something. Yet, its an awesome idea because it not only produces oil and gas, but they can get rid of garbage thats been piling up in landfills.

 

Its sort of like a story I read in WIRED recently about a company in Florida who is making real "cultured" diamonds which are almost exactly like real mined diamonds except that they are cheaper. De-Beers, the Cartel that pretty much runs the diamond industry and sets prices for diamonds artificially high by not releasing very many diamonds each year (similar to the OPEC for Oil) are mad and trying to discredit the diamonds (saying stupid things like if you really love a woman who you are about to marry, you'd spend twice as much on a diamond half the size of a "cultured" diamond, size and price being the only difference between the two)...

 

There is no way the oil companies are just going to let this man ruin their business overnight.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I hope the guy is 100% right. Looks like gas won't be quite as pricey.

[BX 0]

I'd love to see this happen, but we all know that the oil companies are going to rape this man up the ass.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the governments stance is on this.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'd love to see this happen, but we all know that the oil companies are going to rape this man up the ass.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the governments stance is on this.

I doubt the guy can do it.

-=Mike

[Guest Choken One]

Exxon will just buy the guy and they will buy all the landfills...

[BX 0]

Exxon will just buy the guy and they will buy all the landfills...

If they do buy him out, it'll legitimize whatever this process is. Thing is, they'll just let the documents lie in some computer for the next 20 years. They will continue fucking us on oil prices.

 

And then, whenever we DO run out of oil, they'll bring this technology out of the woodwork, and pretend like they've fucking saved us all.

 

It's fucking brilliant, and they've probably already done something like this.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I'd love to see this happen, but we all know that the oil companies are going to rape this man up the ass.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the governments stance is on this.

I doubt the guy can do it.

-=Mike

If you saw the news piece, his method does work. The only problem is whether or not going through the entire process to turn trash and other waste (including sewage and animal parts) into oil/gas is economically feasible, ie cheaper than paying to continue to import oil and gas.

Initially I doubt it will be, but if the guy is given 5 years to refine the process while continuing to produce oil/gas, I think he should be given the chance. What he produces could be used to sure up reserves or something like that. The bigger benefit initiially is that they can start clearing out landfills and turning it into something thats actually worth something. If you think about it long term, 25 years from now, instead of having landfills, cities could have trash converting centers to produce their own oil/gas. If every large city had these, then Im sure that we would significantly reduce, if not completely do away with, our dependence on foreign oil,

and it would be significantly cheaper as well.

 

But of course, like has been said, the Oil Companies will have something to say about this and it will probably keep it from ever getting implemented on that large of a scale.

[BX 0]

But of course, like has been said, the Oil Companies will have something to say about this and it will probably keep it from ever getting implemented on that large of a scale.

 

Are you fucking kidding? Probably? They will fight with everything they have to stop something like this. If they can't buy it, they will DESTROY it.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I'll believe it when my car can drive me to the store with the help of an old Apple computer...

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'll believe it when my car can drive me to the store with the help of an old Apple computer...

I don't even want to think about what would happen with Windows in my gas tank.

[NoCalMike 0]

I am sure the process is legit. This wouldn't be the first time Oil/Energy companies decide they don't want a cut in profits and just buy someone out. I mean hell, Enron could throw this guy 50 million like it was pocket change to just buy the rights to this whole process and then say goodbye to any hope of getting something for a good price.

[Guest Razor Roman]

Reminds me of Back to the Future...

[Ultimo Dugas 0]

Yes, the Mr. Fusion machine. Sounds a lot like it, except this process takes 3 hours whereas the Mr. Fusion seemed to work instantly.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I don't even want to think about what would happen with Windows in my gas tank.

Ever see a Pinto get hit?...

[EricMM 0]

Remember this thread?

 

I think it's the same deal.

 

I dunno what will come of this, but I hope it becomes very widespread.

 

Alternative sources of oil besides drilling are always high on my list, since fossil fuels release uncontrollable amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, not burning wood or anything else.

 

It's all in the CO2 cycle.

 

I'm just worried the miners union will fuck with it. It's all about jobs eh?

 

What about the environment!?

[teke184 0]

I have a nagging vision in mind of the guy successfully fighting off the oil companies only to get bent over by environmentalists who'll bitch about the increased air pollution concerns despite the fact that it's an environmentally friendly process.

 

As for the oil companies, I could see them buying up the process and producing oil MUCH cheaper yet finding some BS excuse to keep prices where they are, sending their profits through the roof. Considering that the process would make the US more than self-sufficient at making fuel, it would mean that we'd be less dependant on the Middle East, there would be less drilling in areas with wildlife concerns, and there would likely be less danger of another Valdez-type accident.

 

 

All that being said, I think there's no chance in Hell of ANY of this happening.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Our oil supply can't last forever though

 

*hopes it lasts for him until he kicks the bucket anyway

[Guest Fook]

I don't even want to think about what would happen with Windows in my gas tank.

I suppose I could make a joke about how the Windows gas would cause the car to crash...

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I think the enviornment would be better off without the heaping piles of garbage sitting in landfills as we continue to burn fossil fuels.

Not to mention the fact that water quality would go up as garbage and toxic materials wouldn't end up seeping into the water. Of course air quality wouldn't get any better, but I'd be willing to trade of no more land fills and better water quality for continued bad air.

[Guest SideFXs]

I want to know how much energy is required to create enough heat and pressure to convert carbon-based refuse into oil? What is the efficiency of the process? I mean aren't we talking about processes that occur 2 or 3 miles below the Earth's crust? I bet it takes more energy to create the oil, than you would get out of that oil if you burned it.

 

Nice idea and it has everything liberals want. And its a Utopian f*ing dream.

 

Nuclear fusion needs more funding. Now what happens here? Two hydrogen atoms are forced together by a magnetic field. The result, 1 helium atom and huge release of energy. Incredible efficiency.

[Ripper 0]

I'm waiting for the news flash that that guy and that scientist were killed in a carwreck just hours after writing to the papers that thier methods didn't really work, they were just elaborate hoax's.