http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/FutureTech/garbage_zappers_040329-1.htmlIt makes the concept of peak oil that much more frightning and blisteringly accurate. There is no quick fix. There is no inexpensive fix.
And, most ironic of all, american credo of "I won't do it if it impacts my profit margin" will be its undoing.
Best case scenario: Trash can be disseminated into energy and oil and repopulate the California Condor and ressurect the Dodo for all we know. But the cost to make it will be very high and that leads to higher prices, meaning a greater chance of economic collapse. Our society will survive and continue with this ridiculous lifestyle it's created for itself, but only few will be able to afford it. (Now add in how they're destroying the middle class and the light bulb glows at 500 watts... they know what is to happen and they're taking PRE-EMPTIVE steps now. Of course, that's being too kind, they're just greedy pigs...)
Change the society from being profit-based to self-sustaining-based and maybe society will have a chance in the long run. But the day of individual profiteering is nearing its end. It's set itself up for a big crash, and nobody's going to be able to fix Humpty this time around.
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/PageTwo.html says it all, it's toward the bottom:
What about that new technology that can turn anything into oil?
"Thermal Depolymerization" (TD) which can transform many kinds of waste into oil, could help us raise our energy efficiency as we lose power due to oil depletion. While it could help us ameliorate the crash, it is not a true solution for the following reasons:
1. Like all other forms of alternative energy, we have run out of time to implement it before the crash. Currently, only one TD plant is operational. Thousands of such plants would need to come online before this technology would make even a small difference in our situation.
2. TD is really nothing more than high-tech recycling. Most of the waste input (such as plastics and tires) requires high-grade oil to make it in the first place.
3. It is unclear what the EPR of oil derived from TD is. How much energy does the TD process require to produce a barrel of oil? If the EPR of oil derived from TD does not approach the EPR of traditional oil, it will not alleviate our problems.
The biggest problem with TD is that it is being advertised as a means to maintain business as usual. Such advertising promotes further consumption, provides us with a dangerously false sense of security, and encourages us to continue thinking that we don't need to make this issue a priority.
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net links to the main page...
Be sure NOT to read page 4... US's reliance on China for all its plastic trinkets will ultimately lead to WW III because of China's industrialization... if only the US kept all the labor and industry to itself... oops. This time, corporations are guilty of genocide the moment China or the US ignites WW III because of the lack of cheap oil.
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