We all remember the end of 'Back to the Future' when the Doc fills up his DeLorean with garbage. Well, one of the areas of biofuel technology that must be watched is 'garbage as fuel'. A recent New York Times article, Gassing Up With Garbage, solidly summarized the existing condition of the quest.
As with most venture capital projects, there is no agreed-upon timeline, for full-scale production, but the market is making the research and long-term viability spring to life. Much of the garbage will be agricultural waste (see the photo of pine waste collected by the Forest Service). Garbage as fuel can be part of the mandated 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022 solution.
Perhaps the day will come when landfills will be mined for organics and the operators can get paid twice for our waste!
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