Boat Made of 16,000 Plastic Bottles to Sail from Cali to Australia

Written by Jerry James Stone

Published on March 22nd, 2009

   

British environmentalist David de Rothschild, author of Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, met with the San Francisco Conservation Corps on Wednesday to talk about “Plastiki,” a 60-foot catamaran made from recycled plastic (except for the masts), which he’ll use to sail from San Francisco to Australia: an 11,000 mile voyage!

The boat is made up of about 16,000 plastic bottles and is an “effort to raise awareness of the recycling of plastic bottles, which he says are a symbol of global waste.” saysRothschild. Skin-like panels made from recycled PET, a woven plastic fabric, will cover the hulls and a watertight cabin, which sleeps four. Only about 10 percent of the Plastiki will be made from new materials.

Two wind turbines and an array of solar panels will charge a bank of 12-volt batteries, which will power several onboard laptop computers, a GPS and SAT phone. He went on to say, “It’s all sail power. The idea is to put no kind of pollution back into the atmosphere, or into our oceans for that matter, so everything on the boat will be composted. Everything will be recycled. Even the vessel is going to end up being recycled when we finish.”

While as noble as that sounds, I can’t help but think that if this boat makes it…it will be on display for quite sometime. Maybe never recycled?

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Curbside Vs. Deposit and GHG Reduction

Written by Dave Dempsey
Published on December 15th, 2009


The beverage container industry continues to fight state and national container legislation despite evidence that such laws could contribute significantly to greenhouse gas reduction while providing energy, recycling and litter control benefits. The industry says community recycling programs, which put the cost burden on communities rather than container manufacturers, are a superior system for processing bottles and cans.

The latest weapon in the industry’s arsenal is a report commissioned by itself; the American Beverage Association (ABA) that says bottles, cans and packages made by its members are easily recyclable because community recycling programs that can handle them serve an overwhelming majority of Americans. Getting more consumers to capitalize on the programs, the study suggests, is the best way to recycle the containers.

But it’s not that simple.

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Biogases - Alternative energy sources

The term "biogases" refers to gases created by the anaerobic fermentation of biological materials. Their main constituents are methane and carbon dioxide.
Considerable quantities of biogases are produced by :
• anaerobic fermentation of agricultural and organic waste (biogas),
• sludge digestion in the tanks of sewage treatment plants (sewage gas),
• organic residues in garbage tips (landfill gas).

Biogas



Disposal and treatment of biological waste represent a major challenge for the waste industry. For a wide range of organic substances from agriculture, foodstuff or feed industries, anaerobic fermentation is a superior alternative to composting.
Biogas - a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide - is created during anaerobic fermentation and serves as a high-energy fuel that can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Biogas-fueled gas engines improve waste management while maximizing the use of an economical energy supply.
Biogas results from anaerobic fermentation of organic materials. As a metabolic product of the participating methane bacteria, the prerequisites for its production are a lack of oxygen, a pH value from 6.5 to 7.5 and a constant temperature of 15 to 25°C (psychrophile), 25 to 45°C (mesophile) or 45 to 55°C (thermophile). The fermentation period is approximately 10 days for thermophiles, 25 to 30 days for mesophiles and 90 to 120 days for psychrophile bacteria. The fermentation systems of today operate largely within the mesophile temperature range.

Sewage Gas



The anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge involves fermenting the sludge in tanks at a temperature of 90 to 93 °F (32 to 34 °C) for about 25 days. The thermal energy generated by a combined heat and power (CHP) unit preheats the sludge and keeps the temperature of the digestion tank constant.
The resulting biogas normally consists of 50 to 60 percent methane, 30 to 40 percent carbon dioxide and small quantities of residues. The gas is compressed and purified if it contains larger amounts of contaminants, and stored temporarily in a gasometer from which it is fed to a CHP unit at constant pressure. A gas engine transforms the energy stored in the biogas into mechanical and thermal energy. It also powers a synchronous generator, which in turn generates electrical energy for the operation of the sewage treatment plant.

Landfill Gas - Producing Usable Energy from Garbage



Landfill gas is created during the decomposition of organic substances and consists of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2). Uncontrolled venting of landfill gas hampers or prevents rapid, scheduled recultivation of a landfill site. To prevent this and to avoid offensive smells, smouldering fires or the migration of gas, the gas must be continuously extracted under controlled conditions. With a calorific value of about 5 kWh/m3N, landfill gas constitutes a high-value fuel for gas engines that can be effectively used for power generation.

Landfill gas is an alternative form of fuel to fossil fuels in the production of electricity. With landfill sites all over the UK, there is a large resource available.
Landfill Gas (LFG) is the product of the degradation of biodegradable waste and it is typically made up of about 50% methane (although this can reach about 65%), with the remainder mainly carbon dioxide plus small amounts of other gases. Both methane and carbon dioxide are ‘greenhouse gases’ contributing to global warming, so their use in this case as fuel reduces their release into the atmosphere. LFG is also a danger to the local environment causing problems for local vegetation, potential fires and explosions and even asphyxiation if released into a building.



Under optimum conditions one tonne of biodegradable waste can produce between 200 and 400 cubic metres of landfill gas. Due to the use of greenhouse gases and the fact that this energy source displaces the use of fossil fuels, landfill gas is deemed to be a ‘green energy’. The landfill gas is extracted from the site and burnt in order to produce electricity. Currently, 48% of Great Britain’s renewable gas and electricity production comes from landfill gas.
Landfill gas can also be used for direct firing (e.g. in brick kilns or for producing steam in boilers) or for direct heating (e.g. in horticultural greenhouses). Again, this reduces the amount of gas released into the atmosphere and can provide an income stream once the landfill site is full.

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Landfill Gas Capture

Methane is a primary component of landfill gas and a potent greenhouse gas when released to the atmosphere. 20 times more damaging than CO2. Reducing methane emissions by capturing landfill gas and using it as an energy source can yield substantial energy, economic, and environmental benefits. Each day millions of tons of municipal solid waste are disposed of in landfills around the world. landfill gas is created as a natural byproduct of decomposing organic matter, such as food and paper, disposed of in these landfills. landfill gas consists of about 50 percent methane (CH4), the primary component of natural gas, about 50 percent carbon dioxide (CO2), and a trace amount of non-methane organic compounds. Globally, landfills are the third largest anthropogenic (human-induced) emission source, accounting for about 12 percent of global methane emissions or nearly 750 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2E). Below is a chart of world landfill gas production by country as of 2007.


Figure 1: World Landfill Gas Production By Country As Of 2007


Figure 2 : World Landfill Gas Production By Country As Of 2007

Recycling Waste

The chemical industry continues to find creative ways of recycling and reusing waste streams. Dow recently began operating a novel system for reusing municipal wastewater at the Terneuzen site in the Nether-lands. In collaboration with local authorities and a local water pro-ducer, this site accepts more than 2.6 million gallons of municipal household wastewater every day. The local water producer removes residual contaminants, and Dow then uses more than 70 percent of this water to generate high-pressure steam. After the steam is used in production processes, the water is again used in cooling towers until it finally evaporates into the atmosphere.
This is the first time municipal wastewater is being reused on such a large scale in the industry. Three million tons of water per year was previously discharged into the North Sea after a single use. Now this water is recycled for two more applications and has resulted in 65 percent less energy use at this facility compared to the alternative option of desalinating seawater. The reduction in energy use is the equivalent of lowering carbon dioxide emissions by 5,000 tons per year. This concept can be applied at other locations around the world.
Another unique case of recycling is the use of landfill off-gas (Figure 2). Instead of using natural gas, Dow has piped methane off-gas from a local landfill to its Dalton, Georgia, latex manufacturing plant. The gas is used as fuel to generate steam for the production of latex carpet backing. This site is expected to use approximately 160 billion BTUs per year of landfill gas (the energy equivalent of 1.4 million gallons of gasoline) that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere.


FIGURE 3 : Recycling landfill off-gas for energy in Dalton, Georgia.
(1) Landfill waste is structured. (2) Anaerobic bacteria decompose the municipal solid waste. (3) Methane off-gas is generated. (4) A system of pipes and blowers collects gas and delivers it to a central location. (5) Gas is used as fuel to make steam. (6) Steam is used by the Dow emulsion polymers plant to manufacture latex carpet backing.

Municipal landfills are the largest source of human-generated methane emissions in the United States. As a greenhouse gas, methane has more than 20 times as much global warming potential as carbon dioxide. By capturing and burning methane, the Dalton facility will reduce the use of fossil fuels and will reduce methane emissions from the landfill. The reduction of greenhouse gases is equivalent to 24 million pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Landfill Gas

Produced by the biological decomposition of waste placed in a landfill site, LFG represents both an environmental liability and a unique renewable energy resource. Landfill gas - composed primarily of carbon dioxide and methane - also commonly contains additional trace constituents such as hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans, vinyl chloride, and numerous other volatile organic compounds. Concerns that are often associated with LFG relate to odours, air quality impacts and explosion hazards. If released to the atmosphere untreated, LFG is also a potent greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change. Collection of LFG to control impacts also results in the creation of a source of green energy. The methane component of LFG contains energy that can be used to generate electricity, heat buildings, fuel industrial processes, or run vehicles. Utilization of energy from LFG not only aids in the control of local environmental impacts, but also avoids consumption of fossil fuels that would otherwise be required to generate an equal amount of energy. Collection and utilization of LFG represents a very significant opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.


Figure 4: Landfill Gas Collection & Utilization System

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How to Cut Down on Plastic Waste Products

Everyone's looking to live green. Recycling plastic products and choosing other packaging alternatives will cut down on plastic waste. Combining the two ideas would make a tremendous difference in the amount of plastic materials that are cluttering up our landfills and harming our birds, animals and even our food supplies.

Go green to save the earth.

1.Step 1
Shop with tote bags that you can use for years and forgo those cheap plastic bags. They strangle birds and are eaten by various animals which often kills them. Since they are made from petroleum products, when they are buried in landfills or eaten by animals that become food, they are also poisoning our food supplies. Sturdy tote bags with strong handles will carry your groceries much more efficiently and will also help you to cut back on plastic waste.

2.Step 2
Donate your plastic bags to the local animal shelter or vet for cleaning. Take them to a private thrift store or resale shop or to churches that have food pantries or clothing giveaways. Use them in small wastebaskets throughout the house and keep a small stash of them in the car.

3.Step 3
Reuse bigger items in the yard. Saving the handle and the bottom of the jug, cut milk jugs to use for pouring liquid fertilizers. Poke holes in the bottom and use it to spread grass seeds, fertilizer and other dry goods outdoors. Let kids play with the cut plastic jugs like shovels in the sandbox or at the beach.

4.Step 4
Recycled plastic coffee containers are great for dry food storage, for painting, for holding building blocks or crayons for children and for holding garbage that will go into the compost heap. Put the lid on and cut an X in the middle of the lid. Now you can store your grocery store bags. You can also store rags in them. Wet small rags in a solution of water and household cleaner such as pine or ammonia or even vinegar and wring out and then store the rags inside the canister to be pulled out when needed for quick clean ups. You can also store rolled up extension cords in these, extra phone cords and things that tangle easily.

5.Step 5
Use small plastic containers with lids to store nails, screws and other small workshop items. They're also great for small paint jobs, or for small amounts of leftovers in the fridge or freezer. With a little potting soil, you can use them to grow starter plants and they're also good to use for banks. Just make a slit in any sized container and fill it with change.

6.Step 6
Buy less plastic. Opt for packaging that is more environmentally friendly, such as paper or cardboard. If you can only find plastic buy the item that uses the least or buy large containers to have one to reuse rather than many small ones. Look at the packaging to see if it can be used after the product is gone as well. Always look at the packaging to see if it can be used after the product is gone as well. Always try to buy things that state they’re made from recycled materials, too. For more ideas, visit Green Boot Camp online. The URL is listed below. With a little forethought, it's easy to cut way down on plastic waste and do your part to help the environment.









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