Turning plastic to oil ...

[Allanon]

I was sent this and thought it was very cool use of technology.

http://www.flixxy.com/convert-plastic-to-oil.htm

 

[Kasiem]

thats a pretty nifty little machine, doesn't bode well for my job security though...

 

[Neirai the Forgiven]

Very cool

 

[reets]

i saw this a while ago and it is pretty cool but the only problem was that it takes more energy to convert the plastic than you would get out of the oil.

 

[Jethiel]

What if the energy used by that generator is supplied via wind or solar power? That would help the chain continue towards viability.

I couldn't stop watching the other videos on that site too...thanks Adam for stealing from my WoW playtime

 

[Kasiem]

there was a comment with the video about the amount of energy used vs produced

"Comment: 1 kg of plastic produces one liter of oil, which costs $1.50. This process uses only about 1 kilowatt of electricity, which costs less than 20 cents!"

I'm not sure where those prices come from though (Canada, US, Japan...)

 

[Xandar]

Actually, if you look at recycling and many 'green' initiatives, they do cost more resources than you gain. The notable exception to this is aluminum cans (and maybe the oil made above, that looks promising).

As a fun example - guess which has more damaging environmental impact when the whole life cycle is considered - a Prius (small electric car) or a Hummer (massive SUV)..... As some may not believe me for just saying it feel free to look it up.

Oh, the same is true of Windmills (high energy cost of construction, use of specialized material in construction which cause an extreme amount of waste), Ethanol, and - one of the nastiest environmental messes - solar power.