Undulating Ungulate

6 Responses to “machine that turns plastic into oil”

1.   Joel Pitt
   August 26th, 2010 | 10:52 am

   I wonder what the ratio of input/output energy it actually produces is.

   One of the difficulties in the past is that it takes a lot of energy to do the conversion (the heating/compression), such that it’s often more efficient to just use the electricity directly to power a car.

2.   billy
   August 27th, 2010 | 2:30 pm

   Hmm. No idea. But if it can be done, it can be done better over time.

3.   michael
   August 28th, 2010 | 9:53 am

   Amazing!

   I think if you’re trying to decide what’s “efficient” or worth doing, you need to factor in the environmental impact of dumping all this rubbish in the ground or burning it.

4.   Rimu
   August 29th, 2010 | 7:09 pm

   I assume that in Japan they incinerate their rubbish, which is why he was making a big deal out of the ‘reduction’ in CO2 emissions.

   Far better to reduce, reuse and recycle.

5.   Pearce
   August 31st, 2010 | 10:22 am

   I’ve never been to Japan, but a quick google taught me that although they have 10 different categories for rubbish (mostly recycling) 80% of rubbish is incinerated.

   That info is from 2005 though, so who knows what’s happened in the last five years. The article claims that one town has the aim of completely eliminating garbage by 2020.

   http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/international/asia/12garbage.html

6.   michael
   September 2nd, 2010 | 11:14 pm

   Certainly in Tokyo most rubbish was taken away for incineration.

   But that’s only 26 million people, so whatever.

   My Neighbour Gomi